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Dutt, Yash Chopra, Raj Kapoor, to name a few. Her most
notable achievement was winning an Oscar for costume
design in Richard Attenborough’s 1982 film
Gandhi
—she
was the first Indian to do so.
During his teaching tenure, Gaitonde took his students
on various study trips across India, and Athaiya had
accompanied him to Udaipur on one of them. “Gaitonde
was clearly taken with his attractive young student and her
talent, immortalizing her in a painting...” (Meera Menezes,
Vasudeo Santu Gaitonde: Sonata of Solitude
, Mumbai:
Bodhana Arts and Research Foundation, 2016, p. 59) This
painting was later acquired by fellow artist Krishen Khanna,
who recalls Gaitonde naming the work “the Black Princess”
because of Athaiya’s dark beauty. “The painting... is rendered
in a sombre palette with predominantly brown, ochre and
green tones. In this depiction of Bhanu, the artist invokes
one of his favourite motifs at the time – that of a woman
and a bird. Here, the female protagonist is depicted in
profile, gazing at a bird perched on her finger... As Khanna
emphasised, “It is absolutely Gaitonde‒esque. You can see
where he was going from there.”” (Menezes, p. 59)
Gaitonde (centre) with Bhanu Rajopadhye Athaiya (extreme right)
Reproduced from
Vasudeo Santu Gaitonde: Sonata of Solitude
, Mumbai: Bodhana Arts and Research Foundation and New Delhi: The Raza Foundation, 2016, p. 65 (detail)
Facing page: Lineage and Authenticity Certificate from Krishen Khanna