JOIN USLegends in Indian cinema continue to live among the masses despite their tragic ends. A live example of this was the large crowd that came to remember and pay tribute to the late actress Smita Patil. ‘Bhumika: The Smita Patil Retrospective’, a film festival organised by ‘Pickle Jar’, as a tribute to the evergreen heroine, saw a packed auditorium at Alliance Francaise.
The event started with the screening of ‘Arth’, one of her golden hits, directed by Mahesh Bhatt.
The audience enjoyed a raw, angst-ridden film where two of the very powerful women in Indian cinema, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil, shared screen space. The movie ended with a thundering applause. The actress’s biography ‘Smita Patil: A Brief Incandescence’ was also launched by film critic Maithili Rao.
Mahesh Bhatt dressed in his trademark black shirt and characteristic smile talked about ‘Arth’ — how he structured the character of the archetypal woman in his movies and his relationship with Smita Patil on the professional front.
“The movie is full of angst and rawness as it was a work from my life and what I was going through at the time,” he said.
“All significant works come from a place full of sorrow. I have always shown the women in my movies as very strong and powerful as the women around me have always been gutsy. My mother was a very tough chic and she was my shrine. Even today, my daughters are extremely fearless and strong,” he added. “Women have always played central roles in my films,” he added.
He also weaved out tidbits from his personal life and how they took shape when he translated instances from his “real life to the reel” in movies such as ‘Lahu Ke Do Rang’, ‘Daddy’ and ‘Sadak’.
Mahesh recalled that he worked mainly for money and to put food on the table.
“People usually ask me why I wash my dirty linen in public. There is no fun washing it in the backyard. I am a director who fires first and aims afterwards,” he said.
“‘Arth’ was the process of deconstruction of life and putting myself back together. I was born again after ‘Arth’,” he said.
The director ended his conversation by talking about his relationship with Smita Patil and described her as “a simple, unassuming girl with a shrill tone.” He also recalled the last time he met her, before her tragic end, and said that she was born to die young. “In ‘Arth’, she played the role exactly the way I had written it and added her own layer to it. She was surprised when I told her that I will be paying her for the film. Where will one find such people today?There was a lot unsaid behind her smile.”