Marathi filmmaker Sumitra Bhave passes away at 78

Sumitra Bhave, veteran National award-winning film director, and writer passed away on April 19, 2021, at the age of 78 due to lung-related ailments. She was known for her work in the Marathi cinema and theatre.

Sumitra Bhave was suffering from lung-related problems for the last two months. The announcement of her demise was made by director Sunil Sukthankar, a noted Marathi director who was associated with Sumitra Bhave for the last 35 years.

The veteran Marathi director has won several National and International Awards for her work. After completing her education, Bhave had started working with a social welfare organization. She had also worked as a teacher at the Karve Institute of Social Sciences, Pune.

Sumitra Bhave’s work: Showcasing social issues through films

• Sumitra Bhave made her first short film ‘Bai’ in 1985. The movie was about a woman living in a slum and showed her survival against all the odds. The critically acclaimed movie won several National Awards. Her other short movie was ‘Pani’.

• Bhave and Sukthankar, in 1995, made their directorial debut with ‘Doghi’ which won the ‘National Film Award’.

• After Doghi, her other notable movies include Gho Mala Asala Hawa, Devrai (2004), Ha Bharat Maza, Samhita, Astu-So Be It, Dahavi Fa, Vaastupurush and Kassav, which is a National Award-Winning Film and was also screened at the Mumbai Film Festival in 2016.

• Bhave’s work was critically acclaimed at several international film festivals and many of the movies also won state and national film awards.

• The movies were made under the banner of ‘Strange Production’ with acclaimed filmmaker Sunil Sukthankar. Their films mainly dealt with several social issues and enjoy a large fan base.

Personal Life:

Sumitra Bhave graduated from the prestigious Tata Institute of Sociology, Mumbai. She had earned a degree in Rural Development.

After deciding that she will be working as a full-time sociologist, she accidentally turned to short filmmaking. After working on several critically acclaimed movies and realizing the power of this medium, Bhave decided to go into full-time movie production. Sumitra Bhave is survived by a daughter, who is also a writer.

According to Sunil Sukthankar, who made total 17 movies and short films with her stated that he worked with her for the last 35 years and it was because of her love and determination towards arts and movies that they were able to do such a huge amount of work.

He added that even at this stage, Bhave had 3 different projects in mind and the scripts were also ready.