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Light a Candle
| Smita Patil | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 17, 1955(1955-10-17) PuneIndia |
| Died | December 13, 1986(1986-12-13) (aged 31) |
| Years active | 1974 - 1985 |
| Spouse | Raj Babbar |
Smita Patil (Marathi: स्मिता पाटील) (17 October 1955 – 13 December 1986) was an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Regarded among the finest stage and film actresses of her times, Patil appeared in over 75 Hindi and Marathi films in a career that spanned more than a sole decade.[1] During her career, she received two National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award, and she was the recipient of the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour in 1985.
Patil graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune and made her film debut with Shyam Benegal's Charandas Chor (1975). She became one of the leading actresses of parallel cinema, a New Wave movement in India cinema, though she also appeared in several mainstream movies throughout her career. Her performances were often acclaimed, and her most notable roles include Manthan (1977), Bhumika (1977), Aakrosh (1980), Chakra (1981), Chidambaram (1985) and Mirch Masala (1985).
Apart from acting, Patil was an active feminist (in a distinctly Indian context) and a member of the Women's Centre in Mumbai. She was deeply committed to the advancement of women's issues, and gave her endorsement to films which sought to explore the role of women in traditional Indian society, their sexuality, and the changes facing the middle-class woman in an urban milieu.
Patil was married to actor Raj Babbar. She died on 13 December 1986 at the age of 31 due to childbirth complications. Over ten of her films released after her death. Her son, Prateik Babbar is a film actor who made his debut in 2008. Smita Patil was born in Pune into a Marathi family to a Maharashtrian politician, Shivajirao Patil and social worker mother, from Shirpur town (Village-Bhatpure) of Khandesh province of Maharashtra State. She studied at Renuka swaroop Memorial high school in Pune. Her first tryst with the camera was in the 1970s as a television newscaster for Doordarshan ,the Indian government owned television service. Smita Patil belongs to a generation of actresses, including Shabana Azmi and, like her, is strongly associated with the radically political cinema of the 1970s. Her work includes films with parallel cinema directors like Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani and Mrinal Sen as well as forays into the more commercial Hindi Film Industry cinema of Mumbai. Patil was working as a TV news reader and was also an accomplished photographer when Shyam Benegal discovered her. She was an alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. In 1977, she won the National Award for 'Best Actress' for her performance in the Hindi film Bhumika. In her films, Patil's character often represents an intelligent femininity that stands in relief against the conventional background of male-dominated cinema (films like Bhumika, Umbartha, and Bazaar). Smita Patil was also a women's rights activist and became famous for her roles in films that portrayed women as capable and empowered. In time she was accepted by commercial filmmakers and from Ramesh Sippy to B.R. Chopra, they all agreed that she was "excellent". Her fans, too, grew with her newfound stardom. Patil's glamorous roles in her more commercial films—such as Shakti and Namak Halaal -- revealed the permeable boundaries between "serious" cinema and "Hindi Cinema" masala in the Hindi film industry. Her association with artistic cinema remained strong, however. Her arguably greatest (and unfortunately final) role came when Smita re-teamed with Ketan Mehta to play the feisty and fiery Sonbai in Mirch Masala (1987). Smita won raves for playing a spirited spice-factory worker who stands up against a lecherous petty official. When Patil became romantically involved with the actor Raj Babbar, Patil drew severe criticism from her fans and the media, clouding her personal life and throwing her into the eye of a media storm. Raj Babbar left his wife, Nadira Babbar to marry Patil. Overnight, Patil was labeled a "home-breaker" by the very Feminist organizations she had worked so assiduously for, and became the target of barbed criticism. Smita died from childbirth complications on 13 December 1986, aged 31, barely two weeks after having given birth to her son, Prateik Babbar. Nearly two decades later, one of India's greatest film directors, Mrinal Sen alleged that Smita Patil had died due to gross medical negligence.
Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award National Film Award for Best Actress Dubbed as Subah Winner, Marthi Rajya Chitrapat Puraskar for Best Actress News sites Info: www.world-newspapers.com/ - Cached - Similar
Contents
[hide]Early life
Career
Smita Patil as aged Usha in Bhumika.
"I remained committed to small cinema for about five years ... I refused all commercial offers. Around 1977-78, the small cinema movement started picking up and they needed names. I was unceremoniously dropped from a couple of projects. This was a very subtle thing but it affected me a lot. I told myself that here I am and I have not bothered to make money. I have turned down big, commercial offers because of my commitment to small cinema and what have I got in return? If they want names I'll make a name for myself. So I started and took whatever came my way."
Smita Patil as Sonbai in Mirch Masala, her last film role.
Personal life
Death
Awards
Incomplete Filmography
Year Film Role Other notes
1974
Mere Saath Chal
Geeta
Samna
Kamley
1975
Nishant
Rukumani
Charandas Chor
Rajkumari (Princess)
1976
Manthan
Bindu
1977
Bhumika
Ushavari
Winner, National Film Award for Best Actress
Jait Re Jait
Marathi Film
1978
Kondura
Parvati
Gaman
Khairun Hussain
Sarvasakshi
Sujatha
1980
Bhavani Bhavai
Ujaan
Aakrosh
Nagi Lahanya
Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hain
Joan
The Naxalites
Ajitha
1981
Chakra
Amma
Double Winner, Filmfare Best Actress Award
Sadgati
Jhuria
TV
Tajurba
1982
Baazar
Najma
Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
Shakti
Roma Devi
Namak Halaal
Poonam
Umbartha
Savitri Mahajan
Marathi Film
1983
Arth
Kavita Sanyal
Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
Mandi
Zeenat
Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award
Ghungroo
Kesarbai
Ardh Satya
Jyotsna Gokhale
Qayamat
Shashi
1984
Aaj Ki Aawaz
Rajni Deshmukh
Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
Raavan
Ganga
Pet Pyaar Aur Paap
Sharaabi
Meena
Mera Dost Mera Dushman
Lali
1985
Chidambaram
Shivagami
Malayalam film
Ghulami
Sumitra Sultan Singh
Debshishu
Utpalendu Chakraborty
Bengali film
Aakhir Kyun?
Nisha
Mera Ghar Mere Bachche
Geeta Bhargav
1986
Aap Ke Saath
Ganga
Amrit
Kamla Shrivastav
Dilwaala
Sumitra Devi
1987
Mirch Masala
Sonbai
Dance Dance
Radha
Thikana
Shashi Goel
Sutradhar
Prerna
Insaaniyat Ke Dushman
Lakshmi Nath
1988
Waaris
Paramjit
Hum Farishte Nahin
Roma
1989
Galiyon Ke Badshah
Tulsi
External links
References
