Sulabha Deshpande (21 February 1937 – 4 June 2016) was an Indian actress and theatre director who played a central role in the experimental theatre movement of the 1960s in Mumbai. Working across Marathi theatre, Hindi theatre, parallel cinema and mainstream Bollywood, she became one of the most recognisable character actors of her generation, with a career spanning more than five decades and over 73 mainstream Hindi films.
| Born | 21 February 1937 |
|---|---|
| Died | 4 June 2016 |
| Occupation | Actress, theatre director |
| Spouse | Arvind Deshpande |
| Notable theatre groups | Rangayan; Awishkar (co-founder, 1971); Chandrashala (founder) |
| Notable collaborators | Vijay Tendulkar, Vijaya Mehta, Satyadev Dubey |
| Notable films | Bhumika (1977), Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan (1978), Gaman (1978), English Vinglish (2012) |
| Major award | Maharashtra State Film Award for Best Actress (Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe) |
Deshpande emerged in the Mumbai theatre scene during a period when Marathi and Hindi stage practitioners were experimenting with new dramatic forms, content and production methods. She became closely associated with Rangayan, the influential theatre group that nurtured a generation of writers, directors and actors, and worked alongside the playwright Vijay Tendulkar, the director Vijaya Mehta and the director-actor Satyadev Dubey.
In 1971, along with her husband Arvind Deshpande, she co-founded the theatre group Awishkar, which became one of the leading institutions of experimental Marathi and Hindi theatre in Mumbai. Under the umbrella of Awishkar, she also started Chandrashala, a children's wing devoted to professional children's theatre, which has continued to stage productions for young audiences.
Her stage work included plays written and directed by some of the most significant figures of post-Independence Indian theatre. Her performance in Tendulkar's Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe was particularly well received; the role also brought her the Maharashtra State Film Award for Best Actress when the play was adapted to the screen.
Deshpande worked extensively in both parallel cinema and mainstream Hindi films, eventually appearing in over 73 Bollywood productions. In the parallel cinema movement, she featured as a character actor in films such as Shyam Benegal's Bhumika (1977), Saeed Akhtar Mirza's Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan (1978) and Muzaffar Ali's Gaman (1978), all considered important works of the New Indian Cinema of the 1970s.
In her later career she continued to take up film and television roles, including an appearance in Gauri Shinde's English Vinglish (2012). On television, she was seen in serials such as Jee Ley Zara, Ek Packet Umeed and Asmita.
Deshpande's career bridged stage and screen, and amateur and professional practice. As a co-founder of Awishkar and the founder of Chandrashala, she helped institutionalise experimental and children's theatre in Mumbai, while as a screen actor she contributed to both the parallel cinema of the 1970s and to long-running mainstream Hindi cinema. Her body of work is regarded as an important link between the Marathi-language theatre tradition and Hindi-language film and television.