Kalpana Lajmi (1954â€"2018) was an Indian film director, producer and
screenwriter. Lajmi was an independent filmmaker working more on
realistic, low-budget films, which are known in India as parallel
cinema. Her films were often woman-oriented. She had been for a
longtime manager with famous Assamese/Hindi/Bengali/English
singer/lyricist/writer/film-maker Bhupen Hazarika. She was diagnosed
with kidney cancer in 2017 and died on 23 September 2018 at the age of
64.Kalpana Lajmi was the daughter of painter Lalita Lajmi and niece of
filmmaker Guru Dutt, debuted as an assistant director under the
veteran film director Shyam Benegal who was also her relative of the
Padukone family. She later went on to work as an assistant costume
designer in Shyam Benegal's Bhumika: The Role. She made her
directorial début with the documentary film D.G. Movie Pioneer in
1978 and went on to direct more documentaries like A Work Study in Tea
Plucking (1979) and Along the Brahmaputra (1981). She debuted as a
feature film director in 1986 with Ek Pal (A Moment), starring Shabana
Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Farooq Sheikh She produced the film, took
part in the film writing and had written the screenplay for the film
along with Gulzar.She then took a break from directing movies and went
to direct her first television serial Lohit Kinare (1988) starring
Tanvi Azmi. She made her comeback to cinema in 1993 with the
critically acclaimed Rudaali starring Dimple Kapadia. Kapadia won the
National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance and Lajmi
also won accolades for directing the film.Her next film was Darmiyaan:
In Between (1997) which was directed and produced by her. The movie
starred Kirron Kher and Tabu in pivotal & influential roles.
screenwriter. Lajmi was an independent filmmaker working more on
realistic, low-budget films, which are known in India as parallel
cinema. Her films were often woman-oriented. She had been for a
longtime manager with famous Assamese/Hindi/Bengali/English
singer/lyricist/writer/film-maker Bhupen Hazarika. She was diagnosed
with kidney cancer in 2017 and died on 23 September 2018 at the age of
64.Kalpana Lajmi was the daughter of painter Lalita Lajmi and niece of
filmmaker Guru Dutt, debuted as an assistant director under the
veteran film director Shyam Benegal who was also her relative of the
Padukone family. She later went on to work as an assistant costume
designer in Shyam Benegal's Bhumika: The Role. She made her
directorial début with the documentary film D.G. Movie Pioneer in
1978 and went on to direct more documentaries like A Work Study in Tea
Plucking (1979) and Along the Brahmaputra (1981). She debuted as a
feature film director in 1986 with Ek Pal (A Moment), starring Shabana
Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Farooq Sheikh She produced the film, took
part in the film writing and had written the screenplay for the film
along with Gulzar.She then took a break from directing movies and went
to direct her first television serial Lohit Kinare (1988) starring
Tanvi Azmi. She made her comeback to cinema in 1993 with the
critically acclaimed Rudaali starring Dimple Kapadia. Kapadia won the
National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance and Lajmi
also won accolades for directing the film.Her next film was Darmiyaan:
In Between (1997) which was directed and produced by her. The movie
starred Kirron Kher and Tabu in pivotal & influential roles.
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