Costume designer and India's first Oscar winner Bhanu Athaiya has died on Thursday after prolonged illness. She was 91.

According to her daughter as reported by PTI, Athaiya passed away peacefully in her sleep.

"She passed away early this morning. Eight years ago, she was diagnosed with a tumour in her brain. For the last three years, she was bedridden because one side (of her body) was paralysed," her daughter said.

Born in Kolhapur, Athaiya began her career as a costume designer in Hindi cinema with Guru Dutt's 1956 super hit C.I.D. She won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi along with John Mollo.

Athaiya, who won an Oscar for her work in the 1983 film Gandhi, returned the award to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2012 for safe-keeping.

Her career spanned five decades with over 100 films and won two National Awards – for Gulzar's mystery drama Lekin (1990) and the period film Lagaan directed by Ashutosh Gowariker (2001).