The Maggie Smith I Knew

‘Maggie
was
very
reserved
and
private.’
‘Nobody
would
dare
to
ask
Maggie
personal
questions.
She
was
not
that
kind
of
person.’
‘She
didn’t
share
and
would
not
want
you
to
share
either!’

‘You
will
be
dazzling
the
heavens
with
your
brilliance,
darling
Maggie,’

Lillete
Dubey
writes
warmly
about
Maggie
Smith,
who


passed
into
the
ages
on
September
27
at
the
age
of
89.

The
two
ladies
had
worked
together
twice,
in

The
Best
Exotic
Marigold
Hotel
(2011)
and
its
sequel

The
Second
Best
Exotic
Marigold
Hotel
(2015),
and
forged
beautiful
memories.

Lillete
turns
back
the
pages
of
her
life
and
shares
her
conversations
with
Maggie
with

Ronjita
Kulkarni/Rediff.com:
“I
don’t
compare
myself
to
Maggie
at
all,
she’s
in
her
own
league,
but
she
debuted
in
the
movies
well
into
her
40s.
That
was
something
I
related
to
because
I
got
into
films
at
the
ripe
old
age
of
46
too.
Very
few
people
have
had
that
trajectory.”

I’ve
been
a
huge
admirer
of
Maggie
Smith
even
before
I
met
her
because
she
was
one
of
a
kind.

Her
style
of
acting,
her
delivery
of
her
lines,
especially
her
comic
timing,
was
unique.

I
don’t
know
anyone
else
who
had
that
deadpan
way
of
delivering
lines.

And
those
amazing
expressions!
Sometimes
expressions
say
a
million
things,
much
more
than
words.
She
had
this
withering
look
which
could
reduce
you
to
an
insect.

I
remember
during
the

Marigold
Hotel
shoot,
Maggie
and
Judi
(Dench)
would
say
that
they
were
19
or
20
when
they
first
met
at
the
National
Theatre.

And
they
were
only
19
days
apart.

They
were
very
close,
like
two
school
girls,
always
giggling
together.
It
was
very
funny
because
they
were
hitting
80
but
laughing
and
giggling
all
the
time.

There
was
a
line
in

Marigold,
where
Maggie
tells
Judi,
‘I’m
older
than
you’
and
Judy
says,
‘Only
19
days.’

And
Maggie
quipped,
‘Maybe,
but
still
older.’

They
took
that
from
real
life
and
it
was
their
running
joke.

Maggie
was
very
reserved
and
private.

Nobody
would
dare
to
ask
Maggie
personal
questions.
She
was
not
that
kind
of
person.

She
didn’t
share
and
would
not
want
you
to
share
either!
(laughs)

She
lost
her
husband
a
long
time
back
but
never
made
a
big
thing
about
it.
She
had
two
sons
who
she
adored
and
was
very
much
a
family
person.
It’s
a
trait
I
identify
with.

She
was
a
firecracker
on
stage,
and
people
who’d
seen
her
in
the
play

Lettuce
and
Lovage,
would
agree.
That
play
was
literally
written
for
her.

The
story
goes
that
Peter
Shaffer,
one
of
the
best
English
playwrights,
waited
for
many
years
until
Maggie
was
free
to
do
the
play
because
he
wrote
it
for
her.

I’ve
always
longed
to
do
that
role.

I
have
to
admit
I
am
not
a
huge
Harry
Potter
fan,
that’s
not
my
kind
of
films
so
I
haven’t
seen
them.
But
I
have
seen
her
in
other
films.

She
had
a
certain
style
of
performance
from
the
beginning,
right
from

California
Suite,
which
she
did
years
ago.

I
remember
her
in

The
Prime
Of
Miss
Jean
Brody
in
which
she
was
brilliant.

I
loved
her
performance
in
the
two

Marigold
movies,
she
stole
the
show
from
everybody.

In

Downton
Abbey,
we
fell
in
love
with
her
again
because
she
was
just
brilliant.

The
other
reason
I’ve
admired
her
is
that
she
had
a
very
strong
leg
in
theatre,
like
Judi
(Dench).

They
were
born
out
of
the
theatre
and
they
loved
it.

I
don’t
compare
myself
to
Maggie
at
all,
she’s
in
her
own
league,
but
she
debuted
in
the
movies
well
into
her
40s.
That
was
something
I
related
to
because
I
got
into
films
at
the
ripe
old
age
of
46.
Very
few
people
have
had
that
trajectory.

Even
abroad,
it’s
rare
for
people
to
start
a
film
career
at
that
age,
especially
women,
because
it’s
so
determined
by
your
looks
and
physicality.

I
remember
chatting
with
her
about
it.

She
used
to
call
me
‘My
darling
girl’
and
was
reasonably
fond
of
me
even
if
I
may
put
it
modestly.

Once
we
were
shooting
the
climax
scene
in
Jaipur.

It
was
a
very
important
scene
where
I
finally
accept
that
Dev
(Patel)
has
fallen
in
love
with
this
girl
who’s
not
quite
kosher.

It
was
12
noon,
and
very
hot.
We
were
sitting
in
a
big

aangan
in
a

haveli,
where
there
was
Judy,
Maggie,
Ronald
(Pickup)…

Maggie
had
one
line,
literally
four
words,
that
she
had
to
speak
off
camera.

She
was
not
even
on
camera.

The
shot
had
to
be
taken
from
several
angles.

That
is
how
films
get
made,
it
all
looks
very
nice,
but
it’s
a
very
tiring
and
laborious
process.

So
he
was
taking
top
shots,
long
shots,
mid
shots,
and
we
would
have
to
repeat
the
scene
again
and
again.

I
was
feeling
very
guilty
because
Maggie
Smith,
in
her
late
70s
then,
was
sitting
in
her
wheelchair
—
of
course,
in
a
shaded
area
—
but
it
was
still
hot
as
hell
and
she
was
giving
me
this
cue
off
camera.

I
kept
telling
her
Maggie,
please,
you
don’t
need
to,
somebody
will
stand
there.
It’s
just
that
I
have
to
look
that
side.

But
she
refused
to
go.

She
just
looked
at
me
and
said
darling,
this
is
my
job.

That
showed
the
kind
of
professionalism
she
had.

Yaahan,
koi
mushkil
se
cue

dega.

There
was
another
time,
when
Judi
and
she
were
so
panicked!

I
had
a
show
at
NCPA,
I
think
I
was
doing
the
play,

Dance
Like
A
Man.

I
had
to
catch
a
2
pm
flight,
so
that
I
could
reach
NCPA
by
4:30
pm.
The
show
was
at
7
pm,
so
it
gave
me
time
for
a
quick
rehearsal.

Since
I
had
done
the
play
many
times,
I
was
not
so
stressed.
Of
course,
I
was
stressed
about
reaching
on
time
but
I
didn’t
show
it.
I
was
pretty
calm.

These
two
ladies
somehow
came
to
know
about
it
and
they
were
so
agitated
throughout
that
morning
that
they
kept
going
to
John
Madden,
my
wonderful
Oscar
winning
director,
and
telling
him
that
Lillette
has
a
show,
we’ve
got
to
let
her
go
quickly,
she’s
got
to
catch
that
flight!

They
were
completely
freaking
out!

I
kept
telling
them
darling
please,
don’t
worry.
But
they
were
like,
no,
it’s
a
show,
darling!
Because
they’ve
done
theatre
too.

Maggie
took
a
little
shine
to
me
because
she
knew
I
come
from
theatre,
and
I
think
at
some
level,
it
was
her
first
love
too.

I
remember
with
Amrish
(Puri)
also,
we
did
three
films
with
him,
and
bonded
because
of
theatre.
We
used
to
tell
each
other
stories
and
he
would
get
me

parathas
for
me
from
home.

Maggie’s
humour
was
very
English,
very
deadpan.

Once,
on
another
hot
day
in
Jaipur
during
the
shoot,
we
were
wearing
these
silk
kurtas.
I
think
we
were
doing
a
Jaipur
wedding.

That
day,
we
were
just
sitting
around
because
we
were
not
relevant
to
the
scene.
It
was
one
of
those
scenes
where
we
just
had
to
give
reactions,
so
there
was
nothing
to
do.

So
Bill
(Nighy)
and
Judi
were
cracking
these
naughty
jokes
and
every
time
I
tried
to
listen,
they
kept
saying
no,
no,
you’re
too
young,
you’re
too
young
(laughs).
They
were
pulling
my
leg.

Maggie
was
sitting
very
quietly,
and
we
were
sitting
under
a
big
tree.

It
was
very
hot,
and
we
were
all
thinking,

pata
nahin
kitna
time

lagega.

The
Indian
actors
were
fretting,
but
these
English
actors
did
not
fret
at
all.
They
were
sweating
away
but
not
saying
a
word.

Maggie
was
sitting
next
to
me,
and
I
was
saying,
‘Maggie,
I
don’t
know
how
long
this
is
going
to
go
on.

And
just
then
on
cue,
a
leaf
fell
next
to
me.

Without
changing
her
expression,
with
a
deadpan
face,
Maggie
tells
me,
‘Oh
darling,
we’ll
be
here
till
autumn!’

I
just
cracked
up
because
she
would
keep
making
these
one-liners,
which
would
leave
everyone
in
splits.