Sulabha Deshpande
Born	1937 Bombay,Bombay Presidency,British India
Died	4 June 2016(2016-06-04) (aged 78–79)[1] Mumbai,Maharashtra,India
Nationality	Indian
Occupations	Actress director
Years active	1960s–2016
Spouse	Arvind Deshpande ​ ​ (m. 1960; died 1987)​

Sulabha Deshpande (Marathi:सुलभा देशपांडे; 1937 – 4 June 2016) was an Indian actress and theatre director. Apart fromMarathi theatre andHindi theatre in Mumbai, she acted in over 73 mainstream Bollywood films. She also performed inart house cinema such asBhumika (1977),Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan (1978), andGaman (1978) as a character actor, along with numerous TV series and plays.^[2][3] A leading figure in the experimental theatre movement of the 1960s, she was associated withRangayan, and personalities likeVijay Tendulkar,Vijaya Mehta, andSatyadev Dubey. In 1971, she co-founded the theatre groupAwishkar with her husbandArvind Deshpande, and also started its children's wing,Chandrashala, which continues to perform professional children's theatre.^[4] In later years, she acted in serials such asJee Ley Zara,Ek Packet Umeed,Asmita and in films such asEnglish Vinglish (2012).

She awardedMaharashtra State Film Award for Best Actress for filmShantata! Court Chalu Aahe.

She was born and brought up in Mumbai, where she studied atSiddhartha College inFort, Mumbai, and later received a degree in education.

Deshpande started her career as a teacher at Chhabildas Boys' High School inDadar, Mumbai. While working there she asked noted playwright,Vijay Tendulkar to write a few plays for her students. This started her association with theatre, and in time made her one of the pioneers in the experimental theatre movement of the 1960s, as she joined the groupRangayan, which was founded byVijaya Mehta,Vijay Tendulkar,Arvind Deshpande andShriram Lagoo.^[5] Soon, she started her acting career, though she first received acclaim when she won state-level competitions for her plays likeMadhlya Bhintee andSasaa Ani Kasav. AfterRangayan dispersed, she along with her husband Arvind Deshpande, and Arun Kakade formed the theatre group,Awishkar in 1971. Having played the lead role of Leela Benare inVijay Tendulkar's noted playShantata! Court Chalu Ahe in 1967 she established her caliber. Later she reprised her role in the 1971 film version of the play directed bySatyadev Dubey, which turned out to be breakthrough role in feature films. Thereafter she went on to work extensively both inHindi cinema as well asMarathi cinema, and directors likeShyam Benegal, through the height of Indiannew wave cinema, in the 1970s and 1980s.^[6][7]

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 theChandrashala, the children's theatre wing ofAwishkar, and directed plays likeBaba Harvale Ahet,Raja Ranila Ghaam Hava andPandit Pandit Tujhi Akkal Shendit and notably theSangeet Natak,Durga jhali Gauri (Durga Became Gauri) in 1982, a dance drama with a cast of seventy children.^[6][7][9] She later directed theHindi film version of the playRaja Ranila Ghaam Hava in 1978. After nearly 18 years of its establishment, Awishkar's association with Chhabildas school ended and the group restarted at theMahim Municipal School, where it continues to hold its theatre productions, workshops and annual school production ofDurga jhali Gauri performed by a new cast each year.^[10] Notable Bollywood actorsNana Patekar andUrmila Matondkar have been students ofChandrashala.^[11]She was playing the role of Grandmother-in-law in Zee Marathi's SerialAsmita.

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

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

• All films are inHindi, unless otherwise noted.

She was awarded theSangeet Natak Akademi Award for theatre acting in Marathi and Hindi theatre in 1987, the award is given by theSangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognition given to practising artists.^[16] She also received the award,Tanveer Sanman in 2010.^[6] She has also been honoured by various other awards like Nanasaheb Phatak Puraskar, Ganpatrao Joshi Puraskar,Vasantrao Kanetkar Puraskar,Kusumagraj Puraskar, Rangabhoomi Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar^[17] and Sarvashrestha Kalagaurav Puraskar by Sanskruti Kaladarpan.^[18]

• Awishkar website
• Sulabha Deshpande atIMDb
• Sulabha Deshpande atBollywood Hungama (archived)

• Indian stage actresses
• Indian film actresses
• Actresses in Hindi cinema
• 1937 births
• 2016 deaths
• Actresses from Mumbai
• Actresses in Marathi cinema
• Actresses in Marathi theatre
• Indian television actresses
• Indian theatre directors
• Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
• Indian women theatre directors
• 20th-century Indian actresses
• 21st-century Indian actresses
• Actresses in Hindi television
• Businesspeople from Mumbai
• 20th-century Indian businesspeople
• 21st-century Indian businesspeople
• 20th-century Indian businesswomen
• 21st-century Indian businesswomen
• Businesswomen from Maharashtra
• Siddharth College of Arts, Science and Commerce alumni

• CS1 Hindi-language sources (hi)
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• Articles with short description
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• EngvarB from September 2014
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