National Award-Winning Filmmaker Sumitra Bhave Passes Away

National Award-winning filmmaker Sumitra Bhave has passed away at the age of 78 on Monday, April 19.

According to the report of the Times of India, the writer-director was facing age-related issues. She died in a private hospital in Pune where she was under observation for a while.

Bhave is known for changing the face of Marathi cinema for years. She along with the filmmaker Sunil Sukthankar have made several hit  which achieved several honours.

The filmmaker duo has directed many popular films like Vastupurush, Dahavi Fa, Doghi, Dvrai, Ek Chup Chya, Badha, Astu, Samhita, Kaasav and many others. Over the years, she had been honoured with National Awards in Best Educational / Motivational / Instructional Film, Best Non-Feature Film on Family Welfare, Best Feature Film, Best Film on Other Social Issues to name a few.

She also won the National Award for her film Kaasav along with Sukthankar and they hoped that the award would help to draw attention to the issue of depression and mental health in general which was the theme of the film. Sukthankar said that the award proves that a well-made film in Marathi on a good theme will find its rightful place in the sun. The duo was also excited for their next release after receiving the award for their film.

Bhave also won the Best Film Award for her film Astu at the New York Indian Film Festival. The director lent her voice for The Discipline which is directed by Chaitanya Tamhane. The film is soon set to be streaming on Netflix.

Many celebrities of the Marathi Film Industry are paying tribute to the late director on social media. Actor Neena Kulkarni posted on Instagram and mourned her demise writing a lengthy note. Her note, which was written in Marathi said, that she was fortunate to get an opportunity to work with Bhave and experience her cinematic vision.

Paying tribute to the late writer-director, she said that the National Award winner lived a simple mind and was high in thinking.