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Rohini Hattangadi

Rohini Hattangadi in 2010
Rohini Hattangadi in 2010 Image: Wikimedia Commons. Bollywood Hungama / CC BY 3.0

Overview

Rohini Hattangadi (née Oak; born 11 April 1951) is an Indian actress whose career spans theatre, film and television across several Indian languages. Trained at the National School of Drama in New Delhi, she is best known internationally for her portrayal of Kasturba Gandhi in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982), for which she became the only Indian actress to win the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Key facts

Born 11 April 1951
Birth name Rohini Oak
Occupation Actress (film, theatre, television)
Alma mater National School of Drama, New Delhi
Film debut Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan (1978)
Languages worked in Marathi, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati
Notable awards BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role; National Film Award; two Filmfare Awards
Feature films Over 80

Background and training

Hattangadi studied at the National School of Drama in New Delhi, an institution that has shaped many leading figures of modern Indian theatre and cinema. Before entering films, she worked principally in theatre, an experience that informed her approach to character roles in subsequent screen work.

Career

Early film work

She made her film debut in Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan (1978). In the early 1980s she appeared in a series of films associated with India's parallel cinema movement, including Arth (1982), Party (1984) and Saaransh (1984).

Gandhi (1982) and international recognition

Her portrayal of Kasturba Gandhi in Gandhi (1982) brought her wide international attention. The performance won her the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, making her the only Indian actress to have received the honour.

Mainstream Hindi cinema

Following Gandhi, Hattangadi was largely cast in character parts in mainstream Hindi cinema, often in mother roles assigned to her well ahead of her actual age. Despite this typecasting, she came to be respected for her acting range and consistency.

Multilingual and television work

She has worked in Marathi, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Gujarati films, accumulating a body of more than 80 feature films. Alongside cinema, she remains active in Marathi theatre and in television, including Marathi soap operas.

Significance

Hattangadi occupies a distinctive place in Indian acting both for her sustained engagement with theatre and parallel cinema and for her international recognition through Gandhi. Her career illustrates the bridging of stage training at the National School of Drama with mainstream and art-house Indian filmmaking across multiple language industries.

References