Senior theatre personality Vijaya Mehta has passed away at 92. A report by ABP Majha confirmed the same.
She was the director behind movies such as Prestonjee and Rao Saheb.
About Vijaya Mehta
A prominent figure in Indian theatre and parallel cinema, Mehta built a distinguished career as an actor and director across stage and screen. She was among the founding members of Mumbai’s Rangayan theatre group, alongside celebrated playwright Vijay Tendulkar and actors Arvind Deshpande and Shreeram Lagoo.
Mehta trained in theatre under renowned mentors Ebrahim Alkazi in Delhi and Adi Marzban in Mumbai, laying the foundation for a career that earned widespread critical acclaim. In recognition of her contribution to theatre direction, she received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1975. She later won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Rao Saheb (1986).
Old interview with Vijaya Mehta
Vijaya was the niece of Nalini Jaywant, cousin to Nutan and Tanuja and daughter-in-law of Durga Khote. Talking about these ties, she told The Hindu in 2011, “I was too used to glamour at home. Instinctively I knew cinema was not for me. Learning about the interconnectedness of all the arts in theatre from Alkazi was a revelation. Adi Marzban said: ‘Don’t talk, jump in’, and made me a theatre director. I was barely 21 when I directed Tendulkar’s ‘ Shrimant’. It made us both.“
About moving to movies from theatre, she said, “Satyajit Ray arrived on the scene. Then I saw Shyam Benegal’s ‘Ankur’ and Govind Nihalani’s ‘Aakrosh’. I realised that filmmaking can be as satisfying as my theatre. Films came to me in my 45th year, an autobiography of Lakshmibai Tilak, others mostly based on my plays. So, though I didn’t know what structuring was, I knew exactly what I wanted in ‘Rao Saheb’. I am proud of my medical TV serial ‘Lifeline’.‘
