The Sensation Called Smita Patil

Smita
Patil
would
have
been
69
today,
October
17.

The
actor,
who
passed
away
at
the
young
age
of
31,
had
a


rare
appeal.

Even
though
her
contribution
to
cinema
was
cut
short
so
quickly,
she
gave
us


many,
many
movies
to
remember
her
by.

She
inspired
many
film-makers
in
her
lifetime.

Mahesh
Bhatt
once
said,
‘She
was
this
untameable
stream
gushing
down
from
the
Himalayas
which
I
had
the
privilege
of
having
touched
in
my
life
before
it
disappeared
into
the
mountains
again.’

He
had
directed
Smith
in

Arth,


a
film
that
she
lived
in
real
life.

What
was
Smita
really
like
as
a
person?

‘I
describe
her
as
an
illusion.
She
was
not
intelligent
or
intellectual
but
sensitive.
Intense,’
one
of
her
co-stars


Mohan
Agashe
had
once
said.

Her
family
tries
to
give
us
a
clear
picture
too.

‘Smi,
as
I
called
her,
was
rare
and
unique
from
the
day
she
arrived
in
this
world
in
a
hurry
and
left
this
world
in
an
equal
hurry,’
her
older
sister Anita
Patil
Deshmukh
had
said.

‘She
was
not
fussy
about
the
food
or
how
it
was
cooked.
She
would
eat
even
boiled
bhindi
with
boiled
rice,’
her
husband


Raj
Babbar
gives
us
yet
another
insight.

Her
son


Prateik
discovered
her
through
her
movies:
‘I
was
always
aware
Mom
was
someone
who
was
recognised,
admired
and
loved.
Now
I
am
discovering
she
was
also
an
extraordinary
artist.’

Just
who
was
Smita,
really?

The
beautiful
actor,
who
spoke
through
her
eyes
and
introduced
us
to
cinema
like
never
before?

Here’s
your
chance
to
read
our
Rediff
Specials
and
get
a
beautiful
insight
into
the
star.