40 YEARS AGO, TODAY BHANU ATHAIYA TOOK THE PRIVILEGE OF BEING THE FIRST INDIAN TO WIN THE OSCAR
On 11 April 1983, history was created, and a milestone was set in the name of Bhanu Athaiya. The first Indian to win Oscar – Bhanu Athaiya, a costume designer and a painter.
Bhanu Athaiya won the Best Costume Design Award at the 55th Annual Academy Awards in 1983, the win was shared by her and her British parallel John Mollo.
Bhanu Athaiya also holds the record of being the first Indian woman to win an Oscar, and also the record of being the only person to receive an Oscar from India for 26 years until in 2009 A.R. Rehman, Resul Pookutty, and Gulzar won Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Song, Best Sound Mixing and Best Song respectively.
Athaiya and Mollo both received their nominations but it was Athaiya that was sent to the stage by Columbia Pictures to receive the Oscar keeping her contribution to the film’s costume in mind.
Athaiya was a humble and down-to-earth woman who did not even have a phone with her. Athaiya lived a simple life despite being the winner of many awards and recognitions for her work.
The Oscar that Athaiya had her hands on was for her work in the movie ‘Gandhi’. In this movie, Bhanu worked with the British filmmaker Richard Attenborough. The movie earned her global prominence for her costumes.
Gandhi is a movie from 1982 directed by Richard Attenborough, the movie covers everything about Indian Independence and the freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi
British director Richard started laying the foundation for the ‘Gandhi’ movie in 1980, on his research he understood how diverse Indian culture is and hence wanted to seek the help of an Indian costume designer, that was when Bhanu was approached. Bhanu worked on many films with many great directors in Bollywood.
Bhanu was a great painter and was very passionate about it but her practical self found a better career for her in the fashion industry. She dedicated her whole life to costume designing and fashion. Her life in the fashion industry started with her work as a freelance fashion illustrator.
In the 1950s, Bhanu entered Bollywood as a costume designer and gave Bollywood some of its most remembered looks to date. She shared and showcased her work in around 100 films.
The splendid costume designer won many prestigious awards like the Usha Deshmukh Gold Medal, National Film Award for Best Costume Design (1991), and National Film Award for Best Costume (2002). She was felicitated with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Filmfare in 2009 and by Laadli in 2013.
Bhanu Athaiya was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2012, she suffered with it for 8 long years after which, India lost a wonderful costume designer on October 15 in 2020. Her great contributions to the film industry will forever be remembered.