A brilliant actresses known for her portrayal of strong female characters in Indian parallel cinema in the 1970s and 1980s, Smita Patil had a lot more to offer art and cinema when her life was cut short at the tragically young age of 31. But in the little over a decade that she acted in films, she left a permanent and beautiful mark on Indian film history.<\/p>\n
Patil was born on October 17, 1955, in Pune, to Shivajirao, a politician, and Vidya. She continued her college education in Bombay after the family shifted there following her father\u2019s appointment as a minister in the state government. In a memorable interview to Madhu Kishwar she later recalled her Bombay days: \u201cI studied in a Marathi medium school [in Pune]. I knew no English. Then I went to Fergusson Collegein Pune. When\u2026the family shifted to Bombay\u2026I went through a culture shock\u2026in ElphinstoneCollege. I felt totally out of place. We used to be called \u2018the vernacs\u2019 because we had studied in the vernacular language. I learnt English on my own . . .\u201d<\/p>\n
A student of Pune\u2019s Film and Television Institute of India, she worked as a television newscaster in Doordarshan for a short while. One of her first major film roles was in Shyam Benegal\u2019s critically acclaimed 1976 film \u2018Manthan\u2019. Set in the backdrop of the White Revolution, the film won the 1977 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. Patil played the role of a villager who leads other women.<\/p>\n
Recalling his association with Patil, Benegal told DNA<\/em> in 2011: \u201cI first saw Smita on TV as a Doordarshan anchor. What caught me was her distinctly Indian looks. A friend of mine knew her sister and we met. The first thing she said was, \u2018I don\u2019t want to act, so don\u2019t offer me any role.\u2019 I offered her one [in the film \u2018Charandas Chor\u2019] regardless, which she declined. It was her mother who persuaded her to accept.\u201d<\/p>\n After \u2018Manthan\u2019, Patil became a talent to reckon with, an impression that was greatly enhanced after her convincing performance in Benegal\u2019s 1977 film \u2018Bhumika\u2019. \u00a0Based on the life of the popular 1940s Marathi actress Hansa Wadkar, it was a bold portrayal of her often elusive and some times self-destructive search for meaning and fulfillment, and won Patil the National Film Award for Best Actress. She told India Today<\/em> magazine in an interview after the film\u2019s release that it was a difficult but satisfying role. \u201cIt was frightening at first \u2014 it is a plum role which any actress would give her right hand to get \u2014 and I didn\u2019t feel confident enough to tackle it. But I guess ultimately it is a question of having faith in one\u2019s director \u2014 such a wonderful rapport exists between me and Shyam \u2014 I know what he wants from me and he knows how much I can give him.\u201d<\/p>\n A few years later, the American critic Elliott Stein said of her: \u201cAt 25 Smita is clearly the queen of Indian parallel cinema, as much an icon for filmmakers of the milieu as was Anna Karina for young directors inFranceat the outset of their new wave. Patil is not a classic beauty but the lady glows. She never makes a false move on screen.\u201d<\/p>\n Patil was initially reluctant to do commercial films. She once said that she eventually did them because she was \u201cunceremoniously dropped from a couple of [parallel film] projects\u201d and this affected her a lot. She worked in films like \u2018Namak Halal\u2019 and \u2018Shakti\u2019. In an interview to rediff.com in 2010 Patil\u2019s sister Manya recalled: She [Patil] used to get very defensive when people asked her about doing so-called commercial films\u2026She outgrew that phase and soon it was like, \u2018The world cannot dictate to me…\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Initially she was embarrassed at \u201cmouthing corny dialogues, wearing crazy costumes and striking inane poses\u201d but in time \u201cshe was accepted by commercial filmmakers\u201d like Raj Khosla, Ramesh Sippy and B.R. Chopra, according to an article in 2002 in The Hindu<\/em>.<\/p>\n In recognition of her immense talent, her work was celebrated by the French cinematheque at theLa Rochellefestival in 1984, a striking achievement for such a young actress.<\/p>\n Patil was cast with Shabana Azmi, the other great actress of the parallel film movement, in films like \u2018Arth\u2019 and \u2018Mandi\u2019. Patil\u2019s \u2018chilli powder\u2019 act in Ketan Mehta\u2019s 1985 film \u2018Mirch Masala\u2019 remains a powerful scene of Indian cinema.<\/p>\n In her personal life, her relationship with Raj Babbar, whom she subsequently married, created a controversy.<\/p>\n Smita Patil died on December 13, 1986, following complications during childbirth. Her sister, however, believes that she died of \u201cheart break\u201d. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cShe looked for an ideal relationship, she wanted her personal life to be good, and she kept hoping things would change for the better. But they did not,\u201d Manya said.<\/p>\n Patil is remembered fondly by those who knew her personally and through her films.<\/p>\n Benegal summed up her legacy: \u201cHow does one ever reconcile to a loss of such colossal talent?…It is sad that Smita had a relatively shorter 11-year run but look at what she did with it. Even in the projects where many felt she was miscast, you will rarely find Smita wanting when it came to her craft. I\u2019m sure if she was around she would have continued to dazzle.\u201d<\/p>\n Also on this day:<\/p>\n 1955 \u2014 Manohar Parrikar, chief minister of Goa, was born \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 1960 \u2014 Daggubati Venkatesh, Telugu film actor, was born\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 2001 \u2014 Indian Parliament was attacked by terrorists<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A brilliant actresses known for her portrayal of strong female characters in Indian parallel cinema in the 1970s and 1980s, Smita Patil had a lot more to offer art and cinema when her life was cut short at the tragically young age of 31. But in the little over a decade that she acted in films, she left a permanent… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history"],"yoast_head":"\n