Renowned painter Lalitha Lajmi, sister of Guru Dutt, dead at 90

One of India's most prolific painters, Lalitha Lajmi is no more. Lajmi died on Monday at the age of 90. The news of her demise was shared on Twitter by the official handle of National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA). She was the sister of well-known filmmaker-actor Guru Dutt.

"With Profound grief and sorrow NGMA, Mumbai, Ministry of Culture, Government of India shares the news of demise of veteran artist and printmaker Smt. Lalitha Lajmi who left for heavenly abode this morning(13.02.2023). Our Deepest Condolences. RIP," NGMA wrote in the caption of the post.

Lajmi was born to a poet father and a poly-linguistic writer mother in Kolkata in 1932. She was a self-taught artist with a keen interest in classical dance. Over the decades, she held several exhibitions at international art galleries in Paris, London and Netherlands.

NGMA described Ms Lajmi as an "unparalleled watercolourist". Through her work, she usually narrated a layered history of the modern Indian woman in the decades that followed Independence.

Lajmi's daughter, Kalpana Lajmi was also a well known Indian filmmaker who had made award-winning films like 'Rudali' and 'Daman'. Kalpana Lajmi passed away in 2018 due to multiple illnesses. Lalitha Lajmi's son, Devdas, reportedly live in the US.

In recent years, Lalitha Lajmi played a small cameo in Aamir Khan starrer 'Tare Zameen Par', as the chief guest for the intra-school art competition.