Born on October 17, 1955, Smita Patil was one of the finest actresses of Indian cinema. On her 55th birth anniversary we take a look at her short but eventful life.
Smita Patil was undoubtedly one of the finest actresses of Indian cinema. On her death anniversary, we take a look at her short but eventful life.
Smita's father Shivajirao Patil was a Maharashtrian politician and her mother Vidya Patil was a social worker.
An alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, Smita was also an accomplished photographer.
Smita became romantically involved with Raj Babbar, who left his wife Nadira Babbar to marry her. Smita was criticised by all and was labeled as a "home-breaker".
Prateek made his debut in Bollywood with Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na in 2008. Even though he had a small role in the movie, he made his mark. His next release will be Dhobi Ghat, which is produced and directed by Aamir Khan's wife Kiran Rao.
Smita worked as a newscaster for Doordarshan Pune, when director Shyam Benegal discovered her.
Smita has had the opportunity to work with parallel cinema directors like Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani and Mrinal Sen as well as commercial directors like Raj Khosla, Ramesh Sippy, and BR Chopra.
Smita debuted with the movie Mere Saath Chal in 1974. The movie also starred Shreeram Lagoo and Prema Narayan.
The very next year she acted in Shyam Benegal's children's film Charandas Chor.
1976 was a very crucial year for Smita Patil, as two of her best films till date Manthan and Bhumika released that year.
Manthan was set amidst the backdrop of the White Revolution of India (Operation Flood) which started in 1970, ushering an era of plenty, from a measly amount of milk production and distribution.
Bhumika was broadly based on the memoirs of the well-known Marathi stage and screen actress of the 1940s, Hansa Wadkar who led a flamboyant and unconventional life. Both the movies were directed by Shyam Benegal.
Smita won her first National Award for Best Actress for Bhumika.
In 1978, Smita Patil acted in Muzaffar Ali's directorial debut Gaman, which also starred Farooq Shaikh.
Then came the much acclaimed movie Aakrosh in 1980. Directed by Govind Nihalani, the film had Smita Patil playing the lead with Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Amrish Puri. The movie won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. It also won the Golden Peacock for the Best Film at the International Film Festival of India.
In 1982, director Sagar Sarhadi cast Smita Patil to play the lead in Bazaar. Also starring Naseeruddin Shah, Farooq Shaikh and Supriya Pathak, the film highlights the tragedy of young girls being sold by needy parents to affluent Indians in the Gulf. The songs from the movie also became very popular.
By this time Smita had created a niche for herself in the industry and commercial filmmakers too couldn't resist casting her in their films. She did Shakti and Namak Halaal both opposite Amitabh Bachchan.
She also acted as the "other woman" in Mahesh Bhatt's Arth, which also had Shabana Azmi and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. The film was written by Mahesh Bhatt about his extramarital relationship with actress Parveen Babi. Smita won the Filmfare for Best Supporting Actress for the movie.
Mandi a satirical comedy on politics and prostitution starred Smita Patil along with Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah.
In 1984, Smita worked with BR Chopra and Ravi Chopra in the movie Aaj Ki Awaaz, which had her husband Raj Babbar play the lead.
Smita played a fiesty Sonbai in Ketan Mehta's Mirch Masala. The movie which also starred Naseeruddin Shah was about a spirited spice-factory worker who stands up against a lecherous petty official.
Smita died from childbirth complications on December 13 1986, barely two weeks after having given birth to her son, Prateek Babbar.
