Smita Patil

• Smita Patil was an Indian film, television, and theatre actress. She is recognized among the finest stage and greatest film actresses of her time. Smita Patil appeared in over 80 Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam, and Kannada films. Her career was spanned just for a decade. Her debut movie was Shyam Benegal’s Charandas Chor in 1975. Smita became one of the leading actresses of parallel cinema in India that was considered a New Wave movement in Indian cinema. Patil also appeared in several mainstream movies in her career. In childhood, she participated in several dramas too.
• Patil was a member of the Women’s Centre in Mumbai and an active feminist, apart from acting. During her life span, she was dedicatedly worked for the upliftment of women and gave an endorsement to her films that highlighted the role of women in traditional Indian society, and the challenges faced by the middle-class woman in an urban atmosphere.
• In an interview, Vidyatai, the mother of Smita Patil, while recalling the childhood memories of Smita, said that Smita was an ever-smiling baby so she named her ‘Smita. Vidyatai Patil added that Smita was three-and-a-half years old when she could speak the Marathi language fluently. Vidyatai recalled that Smita developed a stomach infection in childhood and that kept on occurring in later years. She explained the moment,
   

I could only breast feed her for one month as I had to resume work. When I tried to feed her with the bottle, she’d push it away. On seeing her cry, I’d also cry. She developed a stomach infection, which kept recurring in later years. But she was a smiling baby, so I named her Smita. She must have been three-and-a-half years old when she could speak Marathi fluently. She could even speak in the Marathi code language (involves an addition of an alphabet in every word so that it’s not easily understood), which is very difficult. Our neighbour would dangle a sugary powder packet from her balcony and lure Smita to go over. She’d then ask her to speak in the code language and laugh her heart out! Another neighbour often offered pooja with Lord Ram’s picture, which had him sporting long hair. Smita would remark, ‘Tumcha Ram veda aahe (your Ram is crazy). He doesn’t plait his hair. Look how my mother plaits my hair.”

Smita’s mother Vidyatai Patil, further recalled the childhood memories of Smita and said that Smita often cried by saying that I did not want her because she was my second daughter. She said Smita had a baby brother who passed away when he was 1 year old. Vidyatai said,

Tula mi nako hote na” (you didn’t want me, right?). “Ma tu jao nako, mazi shala palun tak, tujha dawakhana palun tak” (Ma, don’t go, break my school and break down your dispensary).”

• Reportedly, when Smita was a kid, she loved to participate in dramas and often played the character of Jijabai. Ms Smita was soft-hearted, and she often brought stray dogs and cats home. Once, at Vidyatai’s workplace, at a local hospital in Mumbai, Smita volunteered to take tea every day for a new mother, who was neglected by her family for giving birth to a daughter.
• In the early 1970s, Smita Patil began her career as a television newsreader on Mumbai Doordarshan. Reportedly, Smita Patil used to drape Saree over the jeans while working as a television newsreader on Mumbai Doordarshan in the 1970s.
• Smita Patil’s first film role was in the FTII student film ‘Teevra Madhyam’ by Arun Khopkar. In 1974, Shyam Benegal cast her in the children’s film ‘Charandas Chor.’

In the initial years of her career, Smita worked in the films of Shyam Benegal. In an interview, Shyam Benegal (a film director) reminded of an incident that in the movie Bhumika (1977), Smita was reluctant to perform the role of a prostitute or a goddess, but Smita’s mother, Vidyatai’s, motivational guidance made Smita act the shot with full devotion. He added that Smita’s mother supported her so much in her career. He said,
 

Once Smita was shooting for Bhumika at Jyoti Studio, opposite her old house in Tardeo. Her mother, Vidyatai, got a call from director Shyam Benegal asking her to visit the set. There she learnt that Smita was unwilling to do the thrusts required in the song Tumhare bin jee na lage. Vidyatai told Smita, ‘You’ve taken up this profession of your own will. So whether your role is that of a prostitute or a goddess, you have to play it with devotion.’ The shot was okayed in the next take.”

• Shyam Benegal (a film director), in an interview, said that no one would think that Smita would become a film star in the Indian film industry because in India there was a bias against darker skin. He further added that Indians were one of the most colour-conscious people in the world, but from the very beginning, he had the feeling that Smita would photograph brilliantly in Indian cinema. He said,
   

I have a way, I don’t know what it is… of being able to tell how people will photograph. With Smita, no one would think that she’d make a film star. A, because in India you have this bias against darker skin. It is ridiculous but that’s the way it is. We are one of the most colour-conscious people in the world. B, how does having an attractive personality translate in physical terms? That’s very difficult to understand, but sometimes you know that this person has it. I felt that from the beginning, from what I saw on TV and Khopkar’s film. I could tell that this girl would photograph brilliantly,”

• During the 1980s, Smita was offered roles by many commercial filmmakers including Raj Khosla, Ramesh Sippy and B.R. Chopra. They considered her as “excellent.” Movies such as Shakti and Namak Halaal showed that she acted both in ‘serious cinema’ and ‘glamourous cinema’ that depicted her fascinating side in the film industry.
• In the 1980s, Smita paired with actor Raj Babbar in the movies including Jawaab (1985), Aaj Ki Awaaz (1984), and Dehleez (1986). They fell in love and got married, though Raj Babbar was already married to Nadira (a theatre personality). On 28 November 1986, the couple had a child named Prateik Babbar.

• Her mother, in an interview, said that Smita didn’t go to the hospital and nursed her baby at 104-degree fever after a week of delivering the child. Finally, she had to be hospitalized where she slipped into a coma on the way to the hospital. She added that Smita had shared with her sister Manya that she had a premonition that she would not live long as she was born prematurely. She explained the incident,
   

A week later, she developed 104 degree fever. But she insisted on putting ice packs on her body and then nursed him. She loved mogras (jasmine). She’d sing the abhang mogra phoolla (sung by Lata Mangeshkar and written by Sant Dyaneshwar) to Prateik during the little time she had with him.”

• In 1982, Director C. V. Sridhar was the first one to pair Smita Patil opposite Rajesh Khanna (an Indian Actor) in the movie Dil-E-Nadan. After the success of Dil-E-Nadan, Smita Patil and Rajesh Khanna were paired in many other famous films including Aakhir Kyun? (1985), Anokha Rishta (1986), Angaarey (1986), Nazrana (1986), and Amrit (1986). The songs “Dushman Na Kare Dost Ne Woh” and “Ek Andhera Lakh Sitare” from the movie Aakhir Kyon? were chartbusters. Each of these films covered various social issues, and their performances were critically praised. Rajesh Khanna and Smita Patil were paired together in six successful super-hit films of Indian cinema.
• Smita Patil’s notable films are Manthan (1977), Bhumika (1977), Jait Re Jait (1978), Aakrosh (1980), Chakra (1981), Namak Halaal (1982), Bazaar (1982), Shakti (1982), Arth (1982), Umbartha(1982), Ardh Satya (1983), Mandi (1983), Aaj Ki Awaaz(1984), Chidambaram (1985), Mirch Masala (1985), Ghulami (1985), Amrit (1986), Waaris (1988).