Bhanu Athaiya ji designed all my costumes and jewellery, for films like Siddhartha and Karz. She was so dedicated to her craft and such a perfectionist, not just as a designer but also as a scholar and a researcher who knew a lot about history and would study the period, and design costumes accordingly, like she did in Conrad Rooks’ 1972 Indo-American film Siddhartha. My costume was iconic and copied in many films thereafter for years. That’s why when I heard that Sir Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi was happening, I pushed her into doing the film which subsequently bagged her an Oscar.

She had come on my first TV series, It’s A Woman’s World, back in ’83, to talk about trends, and designed all the clothes. Thanks to our long association we became friends, though she was much older than me and when she was nominated for the Oscars, she called me to ask what she should wear. I suggested a turquoise saree, pointing out that it was not a colour worn much at red carpet events in the West so she would stand out. I even wrote a little speech for her which she didn’t read out, telling me on her return that she had been really nervous. But she showed me the statuette she had brought home and I got a good feel of the Oscar trophy. I was so happy for her at the time and I am just as sad today to know that a life so precious is gone.

We last met about three years ago, when the person looking after her urged me to meet her. I immediately agreed and was devastated to see that dementia had wiped out all her memories. She did not remember any of the films she had done, except Gandhi. Age doesn’t spare even someone as brilliant as her. It’s heartbreaking!