Meet the First Indian to Win an Oscar

Known as the doyenne of costume design in India Cinema, Bhanu Athaiya’s journey as an artist and designer is punctuated with many firsts. She was the first woman to join the prestigious Progressive Artists’ Group, the first Indian Indian to win an Oscar in 1983, and one of the first designers to showcase their collection at the first Calico Fashion Show in 1958.

The Word. speaks to Indrajit Chatterjee, Founder of Prinseps, the avant-garde auction house behind the exhibition ‘Bharat Through the Lens of Bhanu Athaiya’—curated by Brijeshwari Kumari Gohil—that explores and celebrates Bhanu’s contribution to the world of Indian cinema and the Progressive Art Movement.

The Word.: What is it that truly stood out for you when you first came sort of across Bhanu Athaiya’s Estate?
Indrajit Chatterjee: “When you look at Bhanu Athaiya’s Estate, the first thing that hits you is her accomplishments. But what is surprising is how little is known about her. She was of a certain personality, where she would never be in the front. And when you look at all that she has achieved, as compared to how little of her has been exposed in the news or art circles, that is what surprises one the most. But that also starts the journey of discovery about everything that Bhanu did, and that’s what makes this project very, very exciting.”

TW.: How did you get access to so many of Bhanu’s creations, photographs, and documents?
IC: “She had two connected garages in Breach Candy [in Mumbai]—which was also her workshop—that have trunks and trunks of material. There was some material outside the trunks as well, but, unfortunately, it did not survive. Even her connection to the Progressive Artists’ Group came to light at the very last minute, right before an Asia Society Exhibition on the Progressive Artists’ Group that was held in New York. While going through the catalogue, they realised that a female artist was part of the Group as well, and they photographed two of the artworks, one of which is on exhibit.

The other thing we wanted to focus on was fashion. She was one of the first fashion designers in India—in 1958, she had a fashion show, part of India ’58 Trade Fair, organised by Calico Mills and Ebrahim Alkazi. And again, that fashion aspect was not been documented at all, and it all came out of trunks…from the photographs that were meticulously archived by Bhanu herself. The costumes, seen in the second edition of ‘Bharat Through the Lens of Bhanu Athaiya’, are not recreated, they are the original costumes from that time, preserved by Bhanu. Also, many of the sketches we found have jewellery in them. Apart from these sketches, there are jewel pieces that were designed by her…and the reason I say ‘designed’ is because we found bags and bags of beads that she used to create them. She also applied 20 or 30 different innovations to costume design.

So we are trying to document it as much as we can, and it all happened because Bhanu was an archivist. She kept almost everything, she was an avid photographer—there are a tonne of photographs of what she did—and it all came out of the trunks in her warehouse.”

TW.: Tell us about Bhanu’s various facets you discovered while you were researching her life.
IC: “So the first one was art, and her contribution was huge. She was invited to join the Progressive Artists’ Group, which is considered to be one of the most important artists’ groups in India with other names like M.F. Husain, F.N Souza, S.H Raza… And they all knew each other, while she was invited to join that group because she won a gold medal at the JJ School of Art. So you can imagine the position that she was in. And with the variety of artwork she produced at that time, including the ‘Lady in Repose’ (1951), she was a very important contributor.

At Prinseps, we are proud to have been the ones to archive and document Bhanu’s artworks, and disseminate the collection amongst museums.”

Then we move on to the fashion part of attention to the fashion part. The 1958 fashion show, part of the Trade Fair, was not documented. Subsequently, in 1958 or 1959, again, it’s not very clear, but it’s there in a letter, there was another fashion show organised by Khatau [Mills], to celebrate the cloth produced in Indian Mills—fashion that utilised locally-produced mill cloth. She was also one of the board members of NIFT in 1996, so she also helped that organisation. She was an important figure in fashion and there’s almost no documentation around it.”