A Tribute To The Dead Flower

From the past few days, she has been bugging me. It started without any reason. I didn’t realize why. Wait, I do realize why. It’s almost 21 years since her untimely death.

Be it “Bhumika”, “Manthan”, “Chakra”, “Mandi”, “Arth”, or “Ardh Satya”, she ruled the screen. I liked her in “Shakti” as much as I liked her in “Mirch Masala”. I was, let us say, surprised by the grit and dazzle in “Dance Dance”. I liked her in the Kannada movie “Anveshane” as well.

Smita Patil is certainly one of the best things that happened to Indian cinema. The dusky beauty had captured millions of hearts, and minds, within a short period of time. A little less glamarous than Rekha, but a much better actress, she defined parallel cinema and took it to new heights.

Ask my wife, she will tell you that Smita’s biggest rival during her times, Shabana Azmi, is no match to her. I won’t go to that extent. I think Shabana is equally talented. But yes, Smita Patil had that uncanny attraction.

As for her personal life, I won’t comment much. I feel bad for Raj Babbar’s first wife, just like I felt bad for Boney Kapoor’s first wife. So, I probably would have hated Smita Patil if she was my friend or relative. But, she was not. So, I choose to look at her as an actress.

She died tragically during childbirth on December 13th, 1986. I remember watching Doordarshan news. They covered the story very well, for several days. I hope her son Prateek realizes how great an actress his mother was.

Smita Patil was a genuinely talented actress. She came in a decade which saw the rise of “art” movies. Her immature death is certainly one of Indian cinema’s greatest tragedies. Smita, we miss you. We will always cherish you!!!  

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