Smita Patil | The Real Talent | Statesmen

Ardha Satya, Shakti, Mandi, Manthan, Bhumika, Aakrosh, Bazaar, Chakra, Chidambaram and Mirch Masala... Most of the actresses in current crop would be proud of herself if she gets even 1 second presence in any of these movies, Smita Patil did all of them... mostly as lead and heavy duty roles. Her filmography boasts of movies like these and a few other acclaimed ones, experience of working with actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Amitabh Bachchan, Raj Babbar and Girish Karnad and  directors like Shyam Benegal, Govind Nihalani, Mrinal Sen and B.R. Chopra. Uff... quite a list.

Smita was known as an intense actress. She had the power to hold a scene with great élan. Something Meena Kumari was capable of doing in a more romantic way. Smita carved her niche in a male dominated cinema and portrayed many strong female characters like Sonbai in Mirch Masala. Even in smaller roles, like the one in Shakti, she used to put in so much energy. She was not exactly a fit for commercial cinema but still made a mark in commercial hits like Shakti and Namak Halaal in which she was paired opposite to Amitabh Bachchan.

Her dedication for parallel cinema has no parallel. She was face of parallel cinema in 70s. She was a favorite of directors who spearheaded the parallel cinema movement. However, at a point, she was 'unceremoniously' removed from projects just to accommodate more commercial faces to make movies more commercially viable. What a shame it was? At that time, Smita decided to move to commercial cinema. Though the decision didn't work out much in her favor, she earned respect of likes of Ramesh Sippy and B.R. Chopra. Talent can earn respect anywhere, she proved.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh