Kalpana Lazmi - Acclaimed Women Director!

Kalpana Lazmi was born in 1954and is a renowned Indian film director, producer and script writer. Lazmi is an independent filmmaker working more on realistic, low budget films, which are known in India as parallel cinema. Her films are often woman-oriented films.

Kalpana Lazmi debuted as an assistant director assisting the veteran film director Shyam Benegal. She later went on to work as an assistant costume designer with Shyam Benegal's Bhumika: The Role (1979) that starred Smita Patil.

She debuted as a director with the documentary film. The film D.G. Movie Pioneer in 1978 went well with audiences and she moved on to direct more documentaries like A Work Study in Tea Plucking (1979) and Along the Brahmaputra (1981).

She debuted as a film director in 1986 with Ek Pal (one minute), starring Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah. She produced the film, took part in the film writing and had written the screenplay for the film along with Gulzar. Lazmi was appreciated for her Hindi directorial debut.

She then took a break from directing movies and went to direct her first television serial Lohit Kinare (1988) starring Tanvi Azmi. She made her comeback to cinema in 1993 with the critically acclaimed Rudaali starring Dimple Kapadia. Kapadia won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance and Lazmi also won accolades for directing the film.

Her next film was Darmiyan (1997) which was directed and produced by her. The movie starred Kirron Kher and Tabu in pivotal roles.

Her next film in 2001 was Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence. The film was distributed by the Indian Government and was highly acclaimed by critics. It was the second time that an actress won the National Film Award for Best Actress under Lazmi's directorial hand. This time
it was Raveena Tandon, who was not as appreciated before, and Lazmi was credited as being the one to exploit the hidden talent in her.

Her next film, Kyon? (2003) went unnoticed. Her last film to hit screens was Chingaari in 2006 that starred Sushmita Sen as a village prostitute. Chingaari turned out to be a commercial box-office flop whereas the role that Sushmita played was noticed.

She is currently in a live-in relationship with the Assamese music composer Bhupen Hazarika, who apparently gave the music for Rudaali.