Born on October 17, 1955, Smita Patil is regarded as one of the finest actors in Hindi and Marathi cinema. She acted in over 80 films in her career that spanned over a decade. Patil, who was married to actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar, passed away in 1986 at the age of 31, barely two weeks after giving birth to Prateik Babbar due to some complications.
Smita Patil was born in Pune to a Maharashtrian politician, Shivajirao Girdhar Patil and social worker mother Vidyatai Patil.
Smita Patil did her schooling in Pune itself and graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India
Before entering the film industry, Smita Patil, in the early 1970s, worked as a television newsreader on Mumbai Doordarshan.
Smita Patil starred in films like Bhumika, Mandi, Manthan, Umbartha, Bhavni Bhavai, Akaler Sandhane, Chakra, Chidambaram and Mirch Masala among others.
Smita Patil and Raj Babbar starred together in many films such as Waaris, Akarshan, Awaam, Mirch Masala, Insaniyat Ke Dushman and Dahleej among others.
Smita Patil had shared screen space with Amitabh Bachchan in Shakti, Ghulaami and Namak Halaal. Big B had once revealed in his blog that Smita Patil was very uncomfortable during the shooting of the film ‘Namak Halal’ because she just could not understand why she was asked to do what she was asked to do in the film. Amitabh posted, “But she did it with a lot of personal persuasions from me and it came out fine. She was gentle and frail but stronger than anything you could ever encounter in a woman…truly a gift we lost we never should have.”
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Smita Patil acted in the cult classic Shyam Benegal’s ‘Mandi’, a satirical comedy on politics and prostitution.
Smita Patil appeared in over 80 Hindi and Marathi films in a career that spanned just over a decade.
During her career, she received two National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award. She was the recipient of the Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian honour in 1985.
She did a very famous Mahesh Bhatt film called Arth in 1982 in which she played the role of ‘other woman’. Who would have thought that her reel-life character would also become a reality of her real-life? Smita Patil got married to Raj Babbar who was already married to Nadira Babbar.
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Raj Babbar and Smita Patil’s only child, their son, Prateik Babbar was born in 1986. But Smita died due to childbirth complications at the tender age of 31.
We truly miss her presence.
