Lalita Lajmi: All You Need To Know About The Indian Artist (Painter)

Lalita Lajmi is an eminent painter from India and the sister of the renowned Hindi film actor and director, the Late Guru Dutt. She passed away on February 13th, 2023 in a hospital in Andheri, Mumbai following multiple age-related ailments.

A self-taught artist, Lalita Lajmi has conducted several exhibitions at international art galleries in various parts of the world such as London, Paris, and Holland. Her works have also been included in the collections of the British Museum, the National Gallery of Modern Art, and CSMVS Museum Mumbai.

Physical Stats

Lalita Lajmi Family

Lalita Lajmi was born on 17th October 1932 in Kolkata. Her father Shivashanker Rao Padukone was a headmaster, banker and also a poet and her mother Vasanthi was a poly-linguist, teacher, and writer.

Apart from Guru Dutt, Lalita’s other siblings include Atma Ram who worked as a director, Devi who was a producer, and Vijay. Though her parents were originally settled in Karwar, they later relocated to Bangalore.

Lalita Lajmi got married to Captain Gopi Lajmi, who worked as a Merchant Navy sailor. The couple’s children include son Devdas and daughter, the late Kalpana Lajmi who was a renowned filmmaker in Bollywood.

Relationships

There are no known relationships available about Lalita in the public domain.

Lalita Lajmi Education

Lalita completed her art master’s at Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai.

Controversies

Lalitha’s daughter Kalpana was in a live-in relationship with Late Bhupen Hazarika, the renowned Indian playback singer, lyricist, and musician. Bhupen was many elders to Kalpana and their relationship had stirred a controversy in the media. Later, Lalita, in an interview, opened up about her daughter’s relationship with the singer.

According to her, Kalpana was just 17 years old and Bhupen was 45. The painter mentioned that though she didn’t bother about Kalpana living with him, what upset her was their age difference. Lalita also commented that Bhupen was fit to be her daughter’s father.

She also stated that in performances conducted abroad, Bhupen used to introduce Kalpana as ‘niece of Guru Dutt’, ‘daughter of so and so’, or his ‘manager’. Lalita also mentioned that though Kalpana was open about their relationship, Bhupen never acknowledged her.

After Kalpana moved to Kolkata to stay with Bhupen, Lalita decided to go there and convince her to come back home. Thus, Lalita along with her son Devadas went to Kolkata in order to bring back Kalpana.

In an interview, Lalita disclosed that by the time her son Devadas was born, her husband Gopi had become a different man as he was addicted to alcohol. Since Lalita didn’t let him drink at home, he used to booze with his friends from outside.

She recalled that Gopi never came home sober or used to share a meal with their children. Apparently, there were regular fights at home.

Lalita Lajmi Profession

As a child, Lalita Lajmi was quite keen on learning classical dance. However, hailing from a middle-class background, her family could not afford to make her join the dance classes. Later she developed an interest in art. 

It was her uncle BB Benegal who introduced little Lalita to painting by gifting her a box of paints and sending her work for a competition. When the results were out, she bagged the first prize in the competition.

It was in the 1960s that she developed a deep interest in painting and started taking painting seriously. Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai turned out to be the venue for her first exhibition, a group exhibition, and also where her first solo exhibition was conducted in 1961. 

In a career spanning more than five decades, Lalita’s had many coveted achievements to her credit including showcasing her work in the Graphic workshop of Prof. Paul Lingerine in Mumbai. Apart from that, two of her etchings were selected for the “India Festival” in 1985, USA.

Her works have been kept for display in several renowned art galleries such as Prithvi Art Gallery, Pundole Art Gallery, Hutheesing Centre for Visual Art, Ahmedabad, Art Heritage, New Delhi, Gallery Gay, Germany, Prints Exhibition at Max Muller Bhavan, Kolkata, Pundole Gallery, Mumbai, Apparao Gallery, Chennai, etc.

Other than painting, she played a guest role in ‘Taare Zameen Par’, a 2007 Hindi movie directed by Aamir Khan. Her other contributions include costume designing for a play by Amol Palekar and working as a graphics artist in ‘Aghaat’, a Hindi movie.  

Lalita Lajmi Source Of Income 

Lalita’s estimated net worth stands at $ USD 4 million and her major income source used to be generated from her profession as a printer, painter, and artist.

Lesser Known Facts About Lalita Lajmi

• In her childhood days, it was her mother who discouraged Lalita from pursuing dance as a profession.

• A German art collector named Dr. Heinzmode purchased Lalita’s first painting for a pitiful sum of Rs. 100.

• When her brother Guru Dutt committed suicide it was a big trauma for Lalita. Thus, she underwent psychoanalysis which helped her introspect and work on her skills.

• Lalita got married when she was just 17 years of age.

• She spent more than 20 years as a teacher at Campion School and Convent of Jesus & Mary.

• Kalpana Lajmi, her daughter was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2017. A week before her death, Kalpana asked Lalita whether she was going to die to which she replied that she will first be the first one to go and then Kalpana will follow her.

• In an interview, Lalita said that she missed her daughter terribly after her death. She also revealed that she doesn’t know how to express her pain and has been crying for years.

• In an interview in 2018, Lalita said that her son Devadas has never ever seen her exhibitions as he has been working with the merchant navy for several years.

• Though the first few of her exhibitions went well, Lalita wasn’t able to sell many of her paintings after that. Hence, she focused on teaching.

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