Vijaya Mehta, veteran theatre director, actor and filmmaker, and one of the founding figures of experimental Marathi theatre, passed away due to age-related ailments at her Mumbai residence on June 30. She was 91.
Born Vijaya Jaywant on November 4, 1934, in Baroda, Mehta graduated from the University of Mumbai and trained in theatre under renowned theatre practitioners Ebrahim Alkazi and Adi Marzban. In the 1960s, she, along with playwright Vijay Tendulkar, and actors Shriram Lagoo and Arvind Deshpande, founded the theatre group, Rangayan. Mehta was widely referred to by the honorary title "Bai" within the arts community.
Mehta is survived by her sons from her first marriage to Harin Khote. She later married Farrokh Mehta, veteran theatre actor and director. Farrokh Mehta passed away in 2023 at age 91.
A pioneer of Marathi theatre, Mehta's 1973 collaboration with Fritz Bennewitz on Ajab Nyay Vartulacha, CT Khanolkar's adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle, brought a revolutionary production to Indian audiences.
Her work in theatre ran parallel to a career in film and television. Her notable works as a director include Rao Saheb (1986) and Pestonjee (1988). As an actor, she appeared in Govind Nihalani's Party (1984), Shyam Benegal's Kalyug (1981) among several others.
Mehta received recognition for her work across both theatre and film. She was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for Direction in 1975, the the Best Actress award at the Asia Pacific Film Festival for Party in 1985 and the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for Rao Saheb in 1986. She received the Padma Shri in 1986 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Tagore Ratna in 2012. In 2018, she received the META Lifetime Achievement Award.
She received the Bharat Damani Sahitya Puraskar and the Masap Lakshmibai Tikvik Puraskar for her autobiography, Zimma: Athavanincha Gof (Zimma: A Weaver of Memories).
Among the actors she worked with and mentored were Anupam Kher, Nana Patekar and Neena Kulkarni. Kher, who worked with Mehta on both Rao Saheb and Pestonjee, paid tribute on Instagram following news of her death, describing her as one of the finest theatre minds the country had produced.