Veteran film director and writer Sumitra Bhave, known for her work in the Marathi cinema and theatre, died in a hospital here (Pune) on Monday following lung-related ailments, director Sunil Sukthankar said. She was 78.

Bhave was suffering from lung-related ailments for the last two months. "She breathed her last at a private hospital here in Maharashtra on Monday morning," said Sukthankar, the noted Marathi director who was associated with Bhave for the last 35 years.