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Lalita Lajmi (17 October 1932 – 13 February 2023) was an Indian painter. She was a self-taught artist born into a family involved in the arts, and was very fond of classical dance even as a child. She was the sister of Hindi film director, producer, and actor Guru Dutt. In 1994, she was invited to the Guru Dutt Film Festival, organised by Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the Indian High Commissioner at Nehru Centre, London. Her work was also influenced by Indian films such as those made by her brother, Satyajit Ray and Raj Kapoor.
In one of her interviews Lalitha Lajmi said that, being from a middle-class background, her family could not afford her joining classical dance classes. She was from a traditional family and hence developed an interest in art. Her uncle B. B. Benegal, who was a commercial artist from Kolkata, brought her a box of paints. She seriously began painting in 1961 but in those days one could not sell one's work and hence she had to teach in an art school to support herself financially. While teaching she worked with disabled and underprivileged children. Her first painting was sold for just Rs. 100 to a German art collector, Dr. Heinzmode. He used to take her works and in exchange gave her works of German artists or some books.
Lajmi said that her work had no particular direction until the late 1970s. Then she started evolving and started doing etchings, oils and watercolors. Her 1990s work which show hidden tensions that exist between men and women captured different roles they play. But her women were not meek but assertive and aggressive. She even used images of Kali and Durga in her work. Her closest inspiration was a series she painted called "The Family series" and this work was displayed at Chemould.