Long before discussions around female objectification became part of mainstream film discourse, Smita Patil had already begun questioning the system.
In an earlier interview with Doordarshan, she criticised the belief that films needed sexualised images of women to draw crowds.
She said, "Hero ko toh nanga dikha nahi sakte; usse kuch hone bhi wala nahi hai. Lekin aurat ko nanga dikhaye to unko lagta hai sau log aur aa jayenge. Hindustan ki audience par ye baat force ki gayi hai ki dekhiye ji, ismein sex hai; aadhe nange shareer hai to aap film dekhne ke liye aaiye (We can't show the hero naked; nothing will happen to him anyway. But if we show a woman naked, they think a hundred more people will come. The audience in India has been conditioned to believe: look, there's sex in this, half-naked bodies, so come watch the film)."
She added, "Yeh ek aisi attitude ban gayi hai jo bahut galat hai. Film agar chalni hai, to film jo hai, agar sachche dil se ek baat keh rahi hai, to woh film chalegi. Sirf aise poster se film chalti nahi hai (This has become a very wrong attitude. If a film is to succeed, it must speak the truth from the heart-then it will run. Films don't succeed just because of such posters.)"
Background
Smita Patil grew up in Shirpur in a socially aware family - her father was a politician and her mother worked as a nurse. She studied literature at Bombay University and later trained at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).
Before entering films, she worked as a newsreader on Mumbai Doordarshan and was involved in theatre.
She made her film debut with Charandas Chor and rose to prominence with Bhumika, which earned her the National Film Award for Best Actress.
Over a career spanning just over a decade, she appeared in more than 80 Hindi and Marathi films.
Smita received two National Film Awards, multiple Filmfare honours, and was awarded the Padma Shri in 1985. She was later commemorated with a postage stamp by India Post in 2013, and film festivals continue to honour her legacy.
In her personal life, Smita married actor-politician Raj Babbar in 1986, a relationship that attracted public attention and controversy. Their son, Prateik Babbar, later followed her into films.
Smita Patil died on December 13, 1986, at the age of 31, due to complications following childbirth.
