Kalpana Lajmi: 10 lesser known facts about the Rudaali director

Not many would know that the late Kalpana Lajmi was related to legendary Bollywood director Guru Dutt and veteran director Shyam Benegal.

Noted film director Kalpana Lajmi died on Sunday after a prolonged fight against a kidney-related illness. She had a nearly three-year long battle with it and was often in and out of hospital.

Kalpana Lajmi, who had been fighting a kidney-related ailment, died in Mumbai on Sunday. (HT Photo)

The director was famous for her work in films such as Rudaali and Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence. While she wasn’t very prolific as a filmmaker, her movies have a high recall value. Rudaali in particular is noteworthy as it featured a stellar performance by Dimple Kapadia and is still remembered for its songs and music. The late Bhupen Hazarika’s soundtrack and the song Dil Hoom Hoom Kare, sung by Lata Mangeshkar, are still popular.

At her cremation in Mumbai, a number of stars such as Shabana Azmi, Soni Razdan and veteran director Shyam Benegal were seen paying their last respects. In her death, an era of women oriented directors has ended. In recent years, she was in the news for her attempts at making a biopic on Hazarika.

1) Kalpana is related to two of India’s best known directors — she is the niece of Guru Dutt (her mother Lalita Lajmi was Guru Dutt’s sister). Veteran director Shyam Benegal is also a relative of hers; Guru Dutt’s maternal grandmother and Shyam’s paternal grandmothers were sisters.

Kalpana Lajmi was related to Guru Dutt and Shyam Benegal.

2) Two prominent Hindi film actors have received the National Award for acting in Kalpana’s films -- Dimple Kapadia for Rudaali and Raveena Tandon for Daman.

3) Kalpana was a lifelong partner of Assamese singer, writer, director and multi-faceted artist, Bhupen Hazarika.

4) Kalpana’s mother Lalita is a self taught artist and a painter. She also made a guest appearance in Aamir Khan’s 2007 film, Taare Zameen Par.

5) Kalpana worked as an assistant costume designer on Shyam Benegal’s iconic work Bhumika, starring the late Smita Patil.

6) Reports suggest that Bengali actor Prosenjit was expected to play the late Assamese artist in the Hazarika biopic while actor Pooja Bhatt was being considered to play Kalpana’s role.

7) Reports also say that all the while Kalpana was battling illness, her medical bills were being taken care of by the Indian Films and Television Directors Association, actor Aamir Khan and director Rohit Shetty.

8) As per her mother, Kalpana has lost one kidney to surgery and the other had been infected. She had to undergo dialysis often.

9) Kalpana had penned a memoir on Hazarika called Bhupen Hazarika: As I Knew Him.

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