Fashion

Art and Design in the Life of Bhanu Athaiya: Realizing a Dream By Gayatri Sinha

As a girl born into the priestly class of pandits from the royal house of Kolhapur in 1929, Bhanumati Rajopadhye may have appeared as an unlikely instigator of dramatic change in the sphere of mass aesthetics. But it is no exaggeration to say that she led the nation’s gaze in the appreciation of feminine beauty, mined the country’s craft and couture traditions, and created waves in the worlds of fashion and consumer desire. One of the questions around Bhanu Athaiya’s vast oeuvre is how do we address her art in the context of her work in cinema and vice-versa.

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Bharat through the lens of Bhanu Athaiya: A recap

'Bharat through the lens of Bhanu Athaiya' celebrates the doyenne of costume design Bhanu Rajopadhye Athaiya, and her exemplary vision of India. The exhibit delved into the essence of India embodied by Bhanu's iconic costume designs crafted for Indian cinema. A trailblazer in defining the aesthetics of a new India through her creations, Bhanu left an indelible mark on cinema. Her remarkable work graced films like Amrapali, Waqt, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Sangam, Gandhi, Lagaan, Swades, and more. An extension and continuation of the first Bhanu Athaiya exhibit shedding light on Bhanu's artistic and cinematic achievements in Delhi, the exhibit in Goa aimed to rediscover the roots of India through the eyes of a visionary costume designer Bhanu Rajopadhye Athaiya. 

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"From Before There Was Fashion"

Bhanu's Stunning Designs For The First Calico Fashion Show Of 1958 Fashion is a vibrant and ever-evolving art form that reflects the spirit of an era. In the annals of Indian fashion history, one event stands out as a pivotal moment in time – the first Calico fashion show of 1958. In 1958, Bhanu Athaiya was invited by Ebrahim Alkazi to design the first traveling promotional fashion show in independent India for Calico Mills. This event took place at the "India '58" Trade Fair in New Delhi, making it a pivotal moment in Indian fashion history.

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Bhanu Athaiya - by Meher Castelino

She was born to design! As a girl of nine years, she passed the elementary and intermediate art examinations and won a scholarship to the JJ School of Arts in Mumbai at nineteen. That is Bhanu Athaiya, India’s first Oscar-winning designer for the mega-blockbuster film, “Gandhi” by Sir Richard Attenborough in 1982.

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