Sulabha Deshpande, a key theatre person of the seventies Experimental stage in Mumbai, belonged to a generation of theatre artists who were at the centre of the parallel theatre movement that emerged from places like the Chhabildas school in Dadar West. She was a teacher at the school when she met Vijay Tendulkar. Soon she was working alongside Shriram Lagoo, Vijaya Mehta and Arvind Deshpande whom she subsequently married.
Her most important work on stage includes plays by Tendulkar like SHANTATA! COURT CHAALU AAHE and SAKHARAM BINDER. After an ideological split with Rangayan, her husband and she, along with Arun Kakade co-founded Awishkar in 1971. She established Chandrashala, the children's wing of Awishkar. Sulabhatai was a constant presence at Awishkar and presided at its annual theatre festival- the Arvind Deshpande Smruti Mahotsav, launched in memory of her husband. The festival continues to take place and has been running for 29 years. Both Awishkar and the festival have consistently pursued the idea of the small, intimate and experimental stage, training and launching generations of theatre artistes.
She of course worked in films as well as television. Some of her noteworthy films include 'Bhumika', 'Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai', 'Viraasat' and others.
She was recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Tanveer Sanmam, among various other awards. She was suffering a long illness when she passed away. She was 79 years old.
