Smita Patil (English: Smita Patil, born- 17 October, 1955, Pune; died- 13 December, 1986) was a famous actress of Hindi films. With his strong acting, he had made a special identity in parallel cinema as well as commercial cinema. His films ‘Bhumika’, ‘Manthan’, ‘Chakra’, ‘Shakti’, ‘Nishant’ and ‘Namak Halal’, adorned with excellent acting, still leave their indelible mark on the hearts of the audience. In the Indian context, Smita Patil, apart from being an active feminist, was also a member of the Women’s Center of Mumbai. She was completely committed to women’s issues. He was also awarded the ‘National Film Award’ and ‘Padmashree’ twice for his invaluable contribution to Indian cinema. Apart from Hindi films, Smita Patil also made her mark in Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada and Malayalam films.
Smita Patil was born on October 17, 1955 in Pune, Maharashtra. He completed his schooling from Maharashtra itself. Smita Patil belonged to a political family, her father Shivajirai Patil was a minister in the Maharashtra government, while her mother was a social worker. Smita Patil graduated from ‘Film and Television Institute of India’, Pune.
Marriage: Smita Patil was married to Raj Babbar, who is also one of the famous actors of Hindi films. Raj Babbar is also a well-known name in Indian politics. Smita Patil and Raj Babbar also became parents to son Prateek Babbar. Prateik Babbar is also active in Hindi films.
After completing college, Smita worked as a news reader in Marathi television. During this time, he met the famous film producer-director Shyam Benegal. In those days, Shyam Benegal was preparing to make his film ‘Charandas Chor’ (1975). Shyam Benegal saw a rising star in Smita Patil and gave her an opportunity to play a small role in his film.
‘Charandas Chor’ is remembered as a historical film in the Indian cinema world, because through this film, two stalwarts of artistic films arrived in the form of Shyam Benegal and Smita Patil. Shyam Benegal once said about Smita Patil that “I knew at first sight that Smita Patil has a wonderful screen presence that can be utilized on the silver screen.” Although the film ‘Charandas Chor’ was a children’s film, but through this film, Smita Patil showed that a new name has been added to Hindi films, especially realistic cinema, in the form of Smita Patil.
After this, in the year 1975, Smita got a chance to work in the film ‘Nishant’ produced by Shyam Benegal. 1977 proved to be an important milestone in Smita Patil’s cine career. This year his successful films like ‘Bhumika’ and ‘Manthan’ were released. The audience got to see new colors of Smita Patil’s acting in the film ‘Manthan’ based on Milk Revolution. For the production of this film, about five lakh farmers of Gujarat gave two rupees each of their daily wages to the film makers and later when this film was released, it proved to be a superhit at the box office.
Smita’s ‘Bhumika’ was also released in 1977, in which she very well portrayed the personal life of Marathi theater actress Hansa Wadekar on the silver screen in the 30s-40s. He was also honored with the ‘National Film Award’ in 1978 for his powerful performance in the film ‘Bhumika’. In films like ‘Manthan’ and ‘Bhumika’, she worked with artistic film masters like Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Amol Palekar and Amrish Puri and was successful in making her mark by showing the power of her acting. Smita Patil’s journey, which started with the film ‘Bhumika’, continued till films like ‘Chakra’, ‘Nishant’, ‘Aakrosh’, ‘Giddh’, ‘Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai’ and ‘Mirch-Masala’. .
