Mumbai: Legendary theatre and film personality Vijaya Mehta, known simply as Bai to generations of theatre lovers and moviegoers, passed away at age 91 Tuesday.Born in Vadodara on November 4, 1934, Vijayabai found her calling as a teenager. She met theatre doyen Ebrahim Alkazi at age 18, whom she went on to consider her guru.Her riveting, slice-of-life creations include the poignant teleplay ‘Hamidabai Ki Kothi’. This narrative delineated the arrival of musical recordings by classical singers, and the consequential decline of live kotha culture. “People could just press a button and listen to songs, they would not visit the courtesans anymore,” she said.Her cerebral — not caricaturist — portrayal of the Parsi community in the Shabana Azmi-Naseeruddin Shah-starrer ‘Pestonjee’ drew partly from her second marriage to Farokh Mehta. Vijayabai’s first husband Harin Khote, son of Durga Khote, had passed away early.Her entry to Hindi cinema was facilitated by Govind Nihalani in his award-winning movie ‘Party’, which offered insight into the lifestyles of the rich and famous, and Shyam Benegal’s ‘Kalyug’. The first full length feature film she directed was ‘Rao Saheb’ in 1986 followed by ‘Smriti Chitre’.She was founder-member of the Mumbai-based theatre group Rangayan along with Vijay Tendulkar, Arvind Deshpande and Shriram Lagoo. Rangayan went on to shape the fortunes of experimental theatre.Her commitment to stage plays lasted a lifetime and Vijayabai became executive director of the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in her later years. Her proactive presence moulded a milestone era in its history.“I was, in fact, involved with NCPA from its conceptualisation. I had attended the inauguration of Tata Theatre. I went on to organise several Indo-German collaborations of Indian classics from here. I organised workshops with international greats including Peter Brooks,” she said, at its 50th anniversary.Vijayabai’s eloquent artistic expression, sharp eye for detail, her keen sense of humour and the ability to draw out the best from stalwart performers like Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Tanvi Azmi, Neena Kulkarni, Nana Patekar, and Bharati Achrekar has been much discussed.The world of Indian theatre and cinema is impoverished by her loss.
