Smita Patil, an evergreen bollywood actress
(1 votes, average: 1 out of 5)Exactly 20 years ago Bollywood actress Smita Patil breathed her last and the Indian film industry lost one of its most versatile talents. An actress, who spearheaded the offbeat film movement that was picking up in the industry, Smita was associated with the radical political cinema of 1970s and 80s when the feminist movement was gaining momentum.
The audience was drawn towards her dusky beauty and amazing screen presence. The histrionics that she portrayed through her powerful roles, made her a leading lady.for both Nasseruddin Shah of parallel cinema and mainstream hero Amitabh Bachchan.
A newsreader with Doordarshan- Bombay, Smita was noticed by Shyam Benegal Benegal cast her in ‘Charandas Chor’ but it was ‘Nishanth’ that brought her into the spotlight and made her Shabana Azmi’s rival. Her nonchalant and versatile performance won her two national awards. In Bhumika she played Marathi actress Hansa Wadkar, traumatized by men, who exploited her vulnerability. Next was ‘Chakra’ that portrayed the struggle of slum dwellers for which she visited jhopad pattis (slums) as a part of her research.
One can hardly forget her role in ‘Manthan’ in which she leads a milk co-operative movement as Bindu who depicted social change. She was paired in most of the off- beat movies opposite Nasseruddin Shah- in films like ‘Mirch Masala’, ‘Bhavni Bhavai’, and ‘Bhumika’. She portrayed the changing phases of women in the urban milieu and as long as it revealed her psyche, she went an extra step by doing intimate love- making scenes in Aakrosh with Om Puri and a bathing scene in the open in ‘Chakra’.
She did commercial films to experiment different roles; when she was cast opposite Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Shakti’. A few people told Ramesh Sippy that she was a bad choice for the glamorous role. She proved them wrong by winning appreciation for her role and earned new fans in her venture. Later she was paired opposite Rajesh Khanna in films such as ‘Nazrana’, ‘Amrit’, and ‘Aakhir Kyon’. But, it is true that some of her roles in commercial cinema were a waste of her unusual talent.
Smita Patil married Raj Babbar, who was already married to Nadira, a theatre actress, after which her personal life was disrupted
In ‘Mirch Masala’, one of her last films she portrayed the role of the courageous Sonbai who extricates herself from the hands of a lecherous subedar (Nasseruddin Shah). But before the film was released, she died of brain fever after childbirth on December 13, 1986; she was only 31.
For an actress who was just 10 years old in the industry and less than 30 years of age, it was a rare honour to celebrate her work in the festival La Rochelle and French Cinematheque in 1984
Smita Patil was a director’s actress and a talent that enthralled audiences and critics with her powerful performances. She gripped her fans with magnetic looks that were hardly the type that subjugated commercial cinema. She was outstanding behind the camera with which she had a brief stint. An exhibition called ‘Through The Eyes of Smita’ was held in 1992 at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Bombay.
Two national awards, a Padmasri title and a career at its peak, Smita had everything but not the time to augment her inestimable talent. What she left behind was legacy and inspiration for an upcoming generation of actors and irretrievable loss for all to deal with. Smita Patil is a name in the boulevard of abrupt and accelerating careers cut short by inopportune death.
— ANI
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