India's first Oscar statuette won by costume designer Bhanu Athaiya at the 55th Annual Academy Awards in 1983 for her work in Lord Richard Attenborough's 'Gandhi', has made its way back to its original home - the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), Los Angeles.
"I do not trust anyone in India to keep it. If Rabindranath Tagore's Nobel medal could be stolen from Santiniketan, what is the guarantee my trophy would be safe? In India, no one values such things and we lack a tradition of maintaining our heritage and things pertaining to our culture," Athaiya said about her decision that she had announced earlier this year.
Despite being the first Indian to win an Oscar, Athaiya has never received any state or national recognition for her contribution to Indian cinema. "It is disappointing. This is the state of artistes in our country," added Athaiya dejectedly.
Allegedly Athaiya is estranged from her family for many years now. When asked why the family could not take care of her trophy, Athaiya's Kolkata based daughter Radhika Gupta remarked, "I could have but that would be a temporary solution," and added, "Mummy felt she never got the recognition she deserved in the country. She felt the Oscar would lose its meaning if kept here. It's now gone to a good place, where she feels it would be preserved with care, respect and dignity."
According to Athaiya's office, the initial plan was for her to travel there in 2013 and personally hand over the trophy to the Academy. However, after she was diagnosed with a life threatening brain tumour in June this year, the designer decided to return it as soon as possible.
The Academy collected the historical statuette on December 8 from Athaiya's South Mumbai workshop. Additionally, she has donated some papers and photographs related to Gandhi and her designing work. "We have just received Bhanu Athaiya's Oscar statuette which will be gratefully added to the collection of other Oscars that have been returned to the Academy over the years," Scott Miller, assistant general counsel and managing director of administration, AMPAS confirmed.
Officially accepting Athaiya's donation, Miller wrote to her saying, "The Academy is honoured to receive back your statuette. We are in the process of creating the finest motion picture museum in the world, and I'm certain it (Athaiya's statuette) will find a place to be displayed there."
We learnt Athaiya has preserved her sketches and illustrations she made for various film stars and producers down the years and is on the lookout for a responsible organisation or a museum that could preserve it for future generations.
- Faheem Ruhani
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