Filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi passes away at 64
Bollywood Filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi, who was known to make films like Rudaali and Chingari, passed away on Sunday morning after a year-long battle with kidney cancer. Actress Huma Qureshi tweeted early morning that Ms Lajmi died at about 4.30 am. She wrote, “Deeply saddened... at around 4:30 am today morning #KalpanaLajmi passed away .. May she rest in peace.”
The filmmaker was detected with Kidney cancer last year and Bollywood celebrities like Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Karan Johar, Alia Bhatt, Soni Razdan and Neena Gupta helped her financially to get it cured. Close friends from Bollywood Soni Razdan also expressed her sadness in a tweet, she wrote, “Our dear beloved friend Kalpana Lajmi has gone to a better place. RIP my darling Kalpan. I shall miss you so terribly.”
Kalpana Lajmi was the daughter of painter Lalita Lajmi and niece of popular filmmaker Guru Dutt. She made her debut as an assistant director under director Shyam Benegal and later moved on to make acclaimed movies like Rudaali, Darmiyaan: In Between and Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence. She had made her directorial debut with the documentary film DG Movie Pioneer.
Kalpana was married to Assamese singer Bhupen Hazarika till his death in 2011. Her last directorial was the 2006 Chingari which had featured Mithun Chakraborty, Sushmita Sen and Anuj Sawhney in pivotal roles.
Filmmaker and screenwriter Dev Benegal also expressed that he will miss Kalpana Lajmi and tweeted, “I will miss her camaraderie, her humor, love for food and passion for film. #KalpanaLajmi” He also awrote, “Sad to hear about the passing of #KalpanaLajmi from @mitrakalita. Kalpana & I worked together as assistants. She was a powerhouse who made men uncomfortable because she stood fiercely for her rights, her point of view & to tell stories her way...”
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