People of the year

Name: Bhanu Athaiya
Place: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
Record title:People of the year.

Bhanu Athaiya, an internationally acclaimed film costume designer, has worked in over 100 films and with noted filmmakers like Guru Dutt, Yash Chopra and Raj Kapoor since 1950s. In her career spanning 50 years, she has received numerous awards, including an Oscar for Costume Design for her work in Sir Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi (1982), which made her the first Indian to win an Academy Award. She has also won the National Film Award twice, in 1991 and 2002. Graduated in fine arts from Sir J J School of Art, Mumbai with top honours, winning the gold medal and a fellowship, she was nominated as a member of the Progressive Artists’ Group, founded by Francis Newton Souza. She made her debut as a costume designer with the film C.I.D. in 1956 and followed it up with other Guru Dutt classics like Pyaasa (1959), Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960) and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1964).