New Delhi, Sep 23 (UNI) Award winning filmmaker and screenwriter Kalpana Lajmi, who established a niche for herself in the world of cinema with acclaimed films like 'Rudaali', 'Chingaari', 'Ek Pal' and 'Daman', died on Sunday after a long battle with cancer, sources in the film industry said.

Lajmi, 64, died in Mumbai early this morning.

In a tweet, actor Huma qureshi said, 'Deeply saddened... at around 4:30 am today morning Kalpana Lajmi passed away .. May she rest in peace.'

Lajmi , who made her debut as an assistant director of veteran film maker Shyam Benegal over three decades ago, made her mark in the world of cinema with critically acclaimed films like ' Rudaali', 'Chingaari', 'Ek Pal' and 'Daman' .

Lajmi's 'Rudaali', was the Indian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards.

The film was based on a short story written by Mahasweta Devi.

A niece of the late Guru Dutt, Lajmi, known for her female oriented movies, was known to choose unconventional subjects for her films, from her debut 'Ek Pal' to 'Rudaali' and ' Darmiyaan'.

While her debut film 'Ek Pal' (1986) was about female desire and an extra-marital affair, Rudaali (1993) was about women hired as professional mourners, who come and weep long and hard in a house of death (‘rudaali’) while 'Darmiyaan ' was a touching story about the ‘third sex’.

Lajmi had also authored a book on Bhupen Hazarika, her companion of 40 years.

The book 'Bhupen Hazarika - As I Knew Him' was launched in Mumbai on September 8 by Shyam Benegal.

Several artists in the film world, including Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Karan Johar, Alia Bhatt, Soni Razdan and Neena Gupta, had helped her out financially.

UNI AR SV 1148