Vijaya Mehta
Vijaya Farrokh Mehta ( born Vijaya Jaywant; * November 4, 1934 in Baroda, Bombay ) is an Indian actress and director in theater and film.
Biography
Vijaya Mehta was born in present-day Gujarat, graduated from the Bombay University and studied theater at Ebrahim Alkazi and Adi Marzban in Delhi. In the 1960s, she was one of the leaders of the Maratha experimental theater: she founded in 1960 together with the authors Vijay Tendulkar, Arvind Deshpande and Shreeram Lagoo, the theater group Rangayan and has directed about 30 pieces of the group. Study trips and invitations have taken her to the UK, France, and the FRG, GDR, USSR and USA.
In the early 1960s led to Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle and Ionescu's Chairs. Her most important modern stage productions in Marathi include CT Khanolkars Ek Shoonya Bajirao (1966 ) as well as the pieces Sultan, Yatanaghar and Holi by Mahesh Elkunchwar in 1970. She worked on Indo-German theater projects with director Fritz Bennewitz, the performances of Bhasas Mudrarakshasa and Kalidasa's Shakuntala brought forth with German actors in Germany.
In 1980, she appeared in a small role in Shyam on Benegals Kalyug to study Benegals directing style. This experience gave her enough support for her directorial debut with the film. For the Indian state TV channel Doordarshan they filmed in 1983 under the title Smritichitre the autobiography of Lakshmibai Tilak, wife of the philosopher V. Narayan Tilak. The following year she appeared in Govind Nihalanis Elkunchwar adaptation party. By based on a short story by BK Karanjia from the early 1950s Pestonjee (1987 ) - one playing in the Bombay Parsi milieu story - they created a much-discussed classic of Hindi film. Except Pestonjee is most of their cinematic work of television adaptations of their stage plays.
In 1987 she was elected president of the Akhil Bharatiya Natya Parishad. From 1988 to 1992 she was director of the National School of Drama in Delhi. She was Executive Director of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Bombay in 1993.
She was married in first marriage with Durga Khotes younger son Harin and was already 27 years Widow. Then she married the stage actor Farrokh Mehta.