Indian theatre and cinema faced a major loss last night. The industry has lost one of its most formidable creative visionaries, veteran theatre director, actor and filmmaker Vijaya Mehta, who passed away peacefully at her Mumbai residence on Tuesday night. Vijaya passed away at 91 after a prolonged illness.
Affectionately known across the cultural fraternity as Bai, Vijaya was a pioneering architect of modern Indian and Marathi theatre. Her passing marks the end of an era for the country’s experimental performing arts, drawing emotional tributes from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bollywood icons like Anupam Kher.
In the 1960s, Vijaya became a founding pillar of the revolutionary Mumbai-based theatre collective Rangayan. Along with celebrated playwright Vijay Tendulkar and acclaimed actors Shriram Lagoo and Arvind Deshpande, Vijaya shook up the traditional theatre scene, steering it towards gritty, socially relevant, and avant-garde productions.
Over the decades, she directed a string of landmark plays that challenged societal norms and explored the depths of human relationships, including Ek Shoonya Bajirao Ajab Nyay Vartulacha (an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle), Hamidabai Ki Kothi, Barrister and Purush.
Though her primary love remained the stage always, Vijaya made an indelible mark on Indian parallel cinema too. As a film director, she won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Marathi for Smriti Chitre (1982) and the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi for the critically-acclaimed Pestonjee (1988).
As an on-screen actor as well, she was equally potent. She won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her masterclass performance as Damayanti Rane in Govind Nihalani’s satirical drama Party (1984). She also left a significant legacy on Indian television, directing the beloved 1991 medical drama series Lifeline.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X to write:
News of her demise sparked a wave of mourning across the entertainment industry. Veteran actor Anupam Kher, who starred in Vijaya's films Rao Saheb and Pestonjee, paid a heartfelt tribute on social media, describing her as "one of the finest theatre minds India has ever produced."
"I had the privilege of working with Vijaya Bai," Anipam wrote. "I had already done a few films by then and thought I understood something about acting. But every rehearsal with her was a lesson in humility and craft. She was a remarkable human being."
Born in 1934, Vijaya's journey began amid Mumbai’s post-independence cultural renaissance. After graduating from the University of Mumbai, she honed her craft under the tutelage of Ebrahim Alkazi, the legendary theatre director who went on to helm India's National School of Drama, and Adi Marzban, a stalwart of Parsi theatre.
The thespian and filmmaker is survived by her daughter, Anahita, who is also a well-known theatre practitioner, and her two sons.
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