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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Curtains down on legendary actress Vijaya Mehta

She mentored actors like Nana Patekar, Anupam Kher Mumbai: The curtains fell for the last time on the Grand Dame of acting, Vijaya Mehta - one of India’s most acclaimed actresses, director, producer, writer and visionary – whose immense contributions to mainstream and parallel cinema and theatre influenced generations of actors and filmmakers. The National Award-winning actress passed away at her Mumbai residence late on Tuesday at 91. Her last rites were performed at the Shipdham...

Curtains down on legendary actress Vijaya Mehta

She mentored actors like Nana Patekar, Anupam Kher Mumbai: The curtains fell for the last time on the Grand Dame of acting, Vijaya Mehta - one of India’s most acclaimed actresses, director, producer, writer and visionary – whose immense contributions to mainstream and parallel cinema and theatre influenced generations of actors and filmmakers. The National Award-winning actress passed away at her Mumbai residence late on Tuesday at 91. Her last rites were performed at the Shipdham Crematorium in Goregaon east this afternoon in the presence of her family, a large number of film personalities and her admirers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress Leaders of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, CM Devendra Fadnavis and many other dignitaries paid rich tributes to Vijaya Mehta. Acting Institution Considered an institution in acting in her own right, Vijaya Mehta was a quiet but stern perfectionist who mentored some of the top actors like Nana Patekar, Anupam Kher, Neena Kulkarni and many others over decades. Fondly addressed as ‘Bai’ by her students and upcoming actors, Vijaya Mehta seamlessly combined intellectual rigours of a scholar and a sensitive artist, firmly believing that acting was not about applause but of truth, discipline and honesty before the audiences. Belonging to a bygone era when plays served as a vehicle to educate, provoke and transform society through stories, and over six decades, she came to be regarded as the ‘conscience keeper’ of serious theatre, long before ‘experimental theatre’ became a vogue. She constantly breathed new life into Marathi theatre in different ways that influenced new actors, directors and earned public approval. Born in Baroda State in 1934 at Vijaya Jaywant, she came to Mumbai at a young age and graduated from the University of Mumbai, with acting remaining her passion during her college days. She performed as Desdemona in a production of William Shakespeare’s 1604 classic play, “Othello” and her acting caught the eye of the renowned theatre guru, Ebrahim Alkazi, who trained and guided her. Rangayan Launched In 1960, Vijaya Mehta, along with other stalwarts like Adi Marzban, Vijay Tendulkar, Dr Shriram Lagoo and Arvind Deshpande, founded a theatre group, Rangayan. Meanwhile, in the mid-1950s she married Harin Khote, the son of the veteran actress Durga Khote, but after his sudden passing in 1964, she married theatre personality Farrokh Mehta a few years later. Jostling for space with the prosperous commercial theatre, over the years, it went onto produce many pioneering and influential plays earning itself a formidable reputation in ‘parallel theatre’ with bold themes, grandiose productions and exemplary performances that catapulted Marathi theatre to national repute. Several of her productions and directions became legendary – Ek Shunya Bajirao, Ajab Nyay Vartulacha, Hayavadana, Mudrarakshasa, Shakuntal, and Hamidabaichi Kothi, Mahasagar, Chairs – besides adaptation of several international classics, and each bearing her signature of meticulous preparations, sensitive performances and artistic excellence from all. Theatre to Cinema The full-house responses to her productions drew the attention of cinema and she ventured both in front of and behind the camera, in various capacities. Vijaya Mehta’s films ‘Rao Saheb’ (1986) for which she won the National Award for Supporting Actress that year, and ‘Pestonjee’ (1988) rank among the landmarks of parallel cinema for their subtle story-telling along with deep characterisation. As an actor, she gave some memorable performances in the much-applauded Govind Nihalani’s film ‘Kalyug’ (1981), “Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho!”, “Akriet”, “The Mist”, and a Mahesh Eklunchwar’s famed play “Wada Chirebandi” (1985), which she made into a television film, “Haveli Buland Thi” (1987). She also acted in the film “Party” (1984), also penned by Mahesh Eklunchwar. Over the years, she was decorated with many honours and awards, including the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, Kalidas Samman, Maharashtra’s highest cultural honours and numerous lifetime achievement awards. Vijaya Mehta: A taskmaster Film industry circles credit Vijaya Mehta not only for her own achievements, but also shaping generations of actors and film-makers to make them masters in the trade. Some of those whose skills she honed include: Nana Patekar, Anupam Kher, Neena Kulkarni, Mohan Agashe, Bharti Achrekar, Sonali Kulkarni, and in his early years, even Akshay Kumar benefited from her guidance and even from her autobiography, “Zimma: A Memoir” (2012). As news of her passing spread today, her disciples, Bollywood and Marathi film industry actors and legions of fans poured their emotions for Vijaya Mehta today on social media.

The question – Is woman a human?

Updated: Oct 21, 2024

Happy Independence Day…

But the question is, Who is Independent?

The question – Is woman a human?

Is it the woman who clutches at her pepper spray and keys when walking back home?

Or is the woman who covers every inch of her body even in boiling heat when going to work?

Alas, they always have excuses don’t they?

“She was asking for it” she was an 83-year-old woman.

“She shouldn’t be out late at night” she was killed in broad daylight

“Her character must be the problem” she was a nun

“She must be out alone” she was with a male friend

“Her clothes must’ve been skimpy” she was in her hospital uniform

But they never run out of excuses…

They say we are a free and democratic country, our people have a voice, but when these people talk, their internet is shut down, they are hit…

We are a democratic country, but where is her justice? Why do her killers roam free? Why is the evidence tampered with? Why is she killed if she raises her voice?

We are a free country, but where is she safe? “At home” he barged in her house and crushed her face with a rock;

“With her parents” her father ruthlessly raped her for 2yrs;

“At work” 10 men ruthlessly raped her during her shift at her hospital;

“Maybe in presence of God”

She was raped during a religious procession.

Why is she never allowed to feel safe and secure? Why is her life at risk in every passing moment of her life?

Oh no! Wait, I forgot the biggest question, Does it matter? She is a woman, but is she human?

Of course not, she is an object of amusement, a victim to blame.

This country prides itself on its rich culture. We worship goddesses and “Mata” that is the Mother is holy in our tradition, but we don’t respect the woman in front of our eyes? We worship idols but we treat a woman in flesh and blood like an object. Our mythology mentions Mahabharata, a war waged because a woman was humiliated; it mentions Lanka Dahan, a kingdom burned to search for an abducted woman; but now we only hold candles in front of pictures of women, who have been victims of monstrosity. So tell me, What culture have we preserved? How true is our worship?

Is this the masculinity we talk about? Is this the “Strength” men pride themselves upon? Or is this just disguised cowardice?

Is this monstrosity in the name of patriarchy, really Power? Or is it just some insecure men trying to feel powerful?

You say, not all men, but what about those that are? They still keep her from leaving her house, they still keep her from raising her voice, what about those men?

But well, this is my democratic country, my blood runs colder as I type every word, fearing what will come next and what will become of me…

So, Happy Independence Day to all those who are free.

But to those who aren’t; well, I’ve nothing more left to say…

(The writer is a student of Saint Xaviars College, Mumbai. The views are personal.)

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