Sulabha Deshpande

Sulabha Deshpande (

She was born and brought up in Mumbai, where she studied at Siddhartha College in Fort, Mumbai, and later received a degree in education.

Career

Deshpande started her career as a teacher at Chhabildas Boys' High School in

Awishkar was housed in the Chhabildas Hall at the Chhabildas Boys' High School, Mumbai, and thus gave rise to Chabildas theatre movement of amateur theatre. It also holds adult education workshops and trains young adults.[8] Soon, she established the Chandrashala, the children's theatre wing of Awishkar, and directed plays like Baba Harvale Ahet, Raja Ranila Ghaam Hava and Pandit Pandit Tujhi Akkal Shendit and notably the Sangeet Natak, Durga jhali Gauri (Durga Became Gauri) in 1982, a dance drama with a cast of seventy children.^[6][7][9] She later directed the Hindi film version of the play Raja Ranila Ghaam Hava in 1978. After nearly 18 years of its establishment, Awishkar's association with Chhabildas school ended and the group restarted at the Mahim Municipal School, where it continues to hold its theatre productions, workshops and annual school production of Durga jhali Gauri performed by a new cast each year.^[10] Notable Bollywood actors Nana Patekar and Urmila Matondkar have been students of Chandrashala.^[11] She was playing the role of Grandmother-in-law in Zee Marathi's Serial Asmita.

Personal life

She was married to noted theatre actor-director, Arvind Deshpande, who died in 1987.

Death

Sulabha Deshpande died on 4 June 2016 in Mumbai, after a prolonged illness.^[12][13] She was cremated the next day.^[14]

Selected filmography

Films

Television

Theatre^[15]

Awards

She was awarded the