A woman allegedly died by suicide in Mumbai’s Bandra on Monday after being harassed by her husband over dowry.
She was filmmaker Guru Dutt’s sister and director Kalpana Lajmi’s mother. She was 90. Artist Lalitha Lajmi, Guru Dutt’s sister, passed away on Monday, 13 February, at the age of 90. Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation (JNAF) , Mumbai, informed of the imminent artist’s passing away.
Lajmi had a small cameo in Amir Khan starrer Tare Zameen Par. “Lajmi was a self-taught artist with a keen interest in classical dance. Her works had an element of melancholy and performance, seen here in her artwork, ‘Dance of Life and Death’”
Her work was also influenced by Indian films such as those made by her brother, Satyajit Ray and Raj Kapoor.
Author Yasser Usman, whose latest book “Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story” focuses on the “personal struggle” of the late director-actor, said Guru Dutt’s sister Lalita Lajmi still regrets not being able to help him.
“While researching for this book, his sister told me they could have saved him. He was crying for help. He was not talking to them. And, that remains a major regret in his brother’s and his sister’s life.
Born in Calcutta in the year 1930, Lajmi also took a keen interest in classical dancing.
Lalitha Lajmi’s works are held in collections in the National Gallery of Modern Art and the CSMVS Museum in India, and the British Museum. She married Captain Gopi Lajmi. She has a daughter with Captain Gopi Lajmi. Her daughter, Kalpana Lajmi, was also a Hindi film director.
Lajmi’s earlier works drew inspirations from her personal life and observations, while her later work reflected the hidden tension between men and women.
Here are 5 things to know about this self-taught artist
-Lalita Lajmi is the sister of Hindi film director, producer, and actor Guru Dutt
-Lajmi began painting in 1961, after her uncle brought her a box of colours from Kolkata. She used to wor at ana rt school and work with under priviledged and disabled children.
-Lajmi’s first artwork sold for ₹100 to a German art collector, Dr. Heinzmode
-Lajmi appeared in Aamir Khan starrer movie Tar Zameen Par, as the chief guest for the intra school art competition
-Lajmi says that her work had no particular direction until the late 1970s. Then she started evolving and started doing etchings, oils and watercolors.
AWARD
1997: ICCR Travel Grant for International Contemporary Indian Women Artists Show for 50 Years of Indian Independence organized by Mills College of Art at Oakland, California
1983: ICCR Travel Grant to Germany
1979: Bombay Art Society, Mumbai
1978: State Art Exhibition Award
1977: Bombay Art Society Award (Etching)
1977: ICCR Travel Grant to Oakland, California
She was the recipient of the Government of India Junior Fellowship from 1979 to 1983
