Smita Patil

Brief Introduction

Smita Patil was a well-known and one of the most talented Bollywood actresses of her time. She had appeared in over 80 Hindi and Marathi films during her career. She had also received various awards including Padma Shri award in 1985. She was also an active socialist who used to fight for Women’s issues. She is the mother of Bollywood actor Prateik Babbar.

Early Life & Background

Smita Patil was born on 17 October 1955 in Pune into a Maratha family. Her father Shivajirao Patil was a Maharashtrian politician and her mother Vidyatai Patil was a social worker from Shirpur town of Maharashtra State. Smita completed her schooling from Renuka Swaroop Memorial high school in Pune. Later, Smita graduated from the FTII (Film and Television Institute of India) in Pune. After completing her education, Smita started her career as a television newscaster for Doordarshan in 1970.

First Assignment/ First Major Break

Before entering in to Bollywood, Smita was working as a TV news reader. In 1975, Smita debuted in the movie ‘Charandas Chor’ in a lead role.

Journey in the Industry

Smita Patil, one of the finest actresses of Hindi & Marathi movies, started her career as a TV news reader for the Doordarshan channel. Smita also tried her hands at photography, before entering the film industry. Her debut in the Bollywood was with the movie ‘Mere Sath Chal’ in a supporting role. Later, she was seen in the Marathi movie ‘Samna’ in 1974. Bollywood director Shyam Benegal spotted the talent of Smita and launched her as a lead actress in the movie ‘Charandas Chor’ in 1975. After her first movie as a lead, Smita received lots of offers from Bollywood as well as regional language movies.

In 1977, Smite acted in the movie ‘Bhumika’, for which she received her first National Award as the Best Actress, and she was also nominated in the category of Best Actress in Filmfare Awards. In the same year, Smita gave a Marathi hit movie ‘Jait Re Jait’.  Later, she acted in the movies like ‘Gaman’, ‘Aakrosh’, ‘Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai’ and a few more.

In 1981, Smita won second National Award and her first Filmfare Award as the Best Actress for the movie ‘Chakra’. She had also acted in Satyajit Ray’s television film ‘Sadgati’, which was aired on Doordarshan in 1981. In 1982, she was nominated once again for the Filmfare Best Actress Award for the movie ‘Baazar’.

In that time, Smita was accepted by commercial filmmakers like Raj Khosla, Ramesh Sippy and B.R Chopra, and Smita was then seen in glamorous roles in the movies ‘Namak Halaal’ and ‘Shakti’ opposite superstar Amitabh Bachchan in the year 1982. In 1982, she acted in another movie ‘Umbartha’, for which she won Marathi Rajya Chitrapat Puraskar for Best Actress. The movie was also released in Hindi as ‘Subah’. In later years, Smita was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Awards at Filmfare for the movies ‘Arth’ in 1982 and ‘Mandi’ in 1983. Smita also acted in the movies like ‘Shakti’, ‘Dard Ka Rishta’, ‘Badle Ki Aag’, ‘Ghungroo’, ‘Ardh Satya’, ‘Qayamat’, ‘Haadsa’ and few more from 1982-1983.

In 1984, Smita was again nominated for the Filmfare Best Actress category for the movie ‘Aaj Ki Aawaz’. Later, Smita was seen in the movies like ‘Raavan’, ‘Tarang’, ‘Shapath’, ‘Anand Aur Anand’, ‘Farishta’, ‘Ghulami’, ‘Aap Ke Saath’, ‘Dilwaala’, ‘Kaanch Ki Deewar’, Anokha Rishta’ and many more. Smita’s last film was Ketan Mehta’s ‘Mirch Masala’, which became super-hit, and Smita was appreciated for her outstanding performance in the movie. Smita died on 13^th December 1986 and over ten of her films were released after her death.

In most of the films, Smita played the character that often represents an intelligent femininity that stands in relief against the conventional background of the male-dominated cinema in films like ‘Bhumika’, ‘Umbartha’ and ‘Bazaar’. Smita had worked with famous directors like Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani, Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen. She had also worked with the superstar of that time Rajesh Khanna in four movies ‘Angaaray’, ‘Akhir Kyun’, ‘Amrit’ and ‘Awam’. She had also worked with her husband Raj Babbar in five films – ‘Bheegi Palkein’, ‘Angaaray’, ‘Jawaab’, ‘Tajurba’ and ‘Awam’.

Apart from Hind & Marathi movies, Smita had also worked in various other regional films. She had acted in Punjabi movie ‘Saal Solvan Chadya’ in 1977, Telugu movie ‘Anugraham’ in 1978, Gujrati movie ‘Bhavani Bhavia’ in 1980, Kannada movie ‘Anveshane’ in 1980, Bengali movie ‘Debshishu’ in1985, Malayalam movie ‘Chidambaram’ in 1985.

Social Activities

Smita Patil was a women’s rights’ activist and a member of the Women’s Centre in Mumbai. She became famous for her roles in films that portrayed women as capable and empowered.

Personal Life

Smita got married to the actor Raj Babbar. She is the mother of Bollywood actor Prateik Babbar, who debuted in the film ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa’. On 13^th December 1986, two weeks after giving birth to her child, Smita died because of childbirth complications at the age of 31.

Filmography

Some of the popular movies of Smita Patil

Awards