Raj Babbar Didn't Even Return My Calls When I Was Writing The Smita Patil Book
Says Maithili Rao, whose biography on the actress is a tell-all in the true sense
Journalist-turned-author Maithili Rao's biography, Smita Patil: A Brief Incandescence, has brought to light a person who could never be captured on camera. From her impulsive nature to how she wanted to 'become a mother of eight kids', the author discovered new facets to the parallel cinema icon. Maithili spoke to SpotboyE about Smita's journey. Excerpts:
Image Source: liveinstyle
How has the reception been to Smita Patil's biography?
I didn't expect the fanfare around the book's launch. It just turned out that Amitabh Bachchan decided to not only launch the book but also read from it. Smita's directors agreed to be there. Shabana Azmi came all the way from Azamgarh only for the launch. Nandita Das read from my book where she's also written a chapter on the way we remember Smita today. Deepti Naval wrote a poem called Smita And Me on her blog. So, it turned into a big affair. And the feedback on the book has been positive.
Image Source: rediff
Image Source: masala
The book's content makes it evident that Smita's family has opened up many chapters of her life before you. Could you tell us about their contributions?
At the book launch, Prateik thanked me for bringing out facets of his mother's life before him - he said that he only knows his mother from articles, her movies and through stories narrated to him by the family and her colleagues. Smita's family and friends were exceptionally generous in sharing the details of her life. Her sisters shared notes that she'd dash off impulsively whenever she wanted to meet her family members.
Image Source: masala
Was she an impulsive person?
Smita expressed what she had to instantly. Her mother, when she was alive, had shared a letter from Smita to her father. Anita (her sister) shared the postcards she wrote to her nephews when they were away. Going back to your question, her family shared rare pictures of her. There is one taken on Smita's last birthday with her parents before she died, one taken when she was a toddler at the airport.
Now that the book is out, do you feel it would have helped if had you ever interviewed Smita?
One of the regrets of my life is that I couldn't meet Smita because I had made a conscious decision as a journalist to not meet or chase stars for interviews. I didn't want to get enamoured by their seductive personalities. I didn't meet Smita and that helped me retain my objectivity. It became a journey for me to meet people who knew her and discover the woman behind the screen image. I've realised Smita was full of contradictions.
Image Source: pixshark
Who was the first person you met from the film fraternity while researching on Smita?
Shabana Azmi. The first thing she said is that they were never friends and the media built such rivalry that they could never become friends. Bhawana Somaiya, a senior journalist, compares it to Aamir Khan-Shah Rukh Khan camps. They were civil with each other when they met but their followers clashed all the time.
What did she have to say about Smita?
During the shoot of Mandi, Shabana discovered that Smita was actually very tomboyish. She could ride a bike and took a road trip from Delhi to Mumbai in a jonga with a friend. It was difficult for Shabana to believe Smita was that adventurous.
Image Source: newstracklive
Shabana also made a confession at the book launch...
Shabana admitted that she had said unkind things about Smita when she was alive. It was gracious of her to apologise for it in front of everyone who mattered. Despite their sour relationship, they didn't let their familial relations suffer. Shabana agreed to become a chief guest at Smita's mother Vidyatai's NGO function. Likewise, Smita respected Shabana's mother. Shabana had fought with the makers of Bazaar arguing that she had a connection with Hyderabad and the accent for the role, and Smita shouldn't have been cast. When Shaukat Azmi joined the cast for the shoot, Smita quietly gave her the larger room of the hotel and shifted into a small room herself.
The two actresses worked together in a couple of films including Arth. Was it easy for Smita to be a part of it where the audience was naturally going to sympathise with Shabana's character?
Smita bravely took on the role knowing that the audience will sympathise with Shabana. But she was fed up of playing those working-class women roles. Mahesh Bhatt had told me Smita was his first choice to play Kavita. She played the unstable other woman very honestly. Her body language was so brittle. Few know that she was going through similar trauma in her personal life. She had gone against her upbringing and fallen for a married man.
Image Source: masala
Do you think Smita was lonely in her personal life too?
I think she was the loneliest when she was expecting Prateik. The man she was married to and was bearing the child of (Raj Babbar) was unsupportive in that phase. She used to drive all alone from Carter Road to Kemps Corner to see her doctor.
Was it the emotional turmoil that took a toll on her?
Difficult to say that but her mother had rejected her choice of man (Raj Babbar). Fortunately, they reconciled when she needed her mom the most - during the last trimester of her pregnancy. Her mom would bring her varan bhaat, which she craved in that phase. Smita had made up her mind that she would leave Raj after childbirth. She wanted to be a mother all her life because she loved nurturing. She wanted to live in a vada (a huge house) with eight kids. She had decided that after her delivery, she'd assist her filmmaker friend Aruna Raje on Rehaai. She was fragile and strong; struggling with her contradictions.
Image Source: pixshark
Any other colleagues apart from Shabana and Deepti who spilled the beans on Smita's life?
Om Puri was a fund of incidents. Smita's friend Jhelum Paranchpe introduced me to the actress' bindaas side. I met Kirit Trivedi, a retired professor from IIT Mumbai, who had discovered that Smita was a brilliant photographer. He found this much after she passed away. Manya and he held 2-3 exhibitions of her pictures. Once, she actually climbed a tree to capture workers on the sets.
Image Source: indusladies
You've not mentioned Naseeruddin Shah so far. What did he say considering Smita and he worked together in most of her films?
I tried Naseer for about six months, but his secretary would tell me different things each time I tried contacting him. He'd be on work or on holiday. Six months down, I had enough content to write the book without his contributions. Naseer just never met me.
What about her husband Raj Babbar? He too doesn't feature in the book...
This book was conceived 10 years ago. Raj Babbar was active on the political scene. He didn't respond to my requests for an audience with him. He didn't even make an acknowledging phone call. When the book became a larger property, I tried to get to him again through Juhi Babbar but it didn't help.
If a biopic was to be made on Smita, who do you think would be best suited to play the role?
Radhika Apte or Nandita Das. But the question is which filmmaker will helm it? It has to be truthful. I don't know if anyone will be brave enough to direct that film. Smita deserves a true biopic on her!
Image Source: liveinstyle
How has the reception been to Smita Patil's biography?
I didn't expect the fanfare around the book's launch. It just turned out that Amitabh Bachchan decided to not only launch the book but also read from it. Smita's directors agreed to be there. Shabana Azmi came all the way from Azamgarh only for the launch. Nandita Das read from my book where she's also written a chapter on the way we remember Smita today. Deepti Naval wrote a poem called Smita And Me on her blog. So, it turned into a big affair. And the feedback on the book has been positive.
Image Source: rediff
Image Source: masala
The book's content makes it evident that Smita's family has opened up many chapters of her life before you. Could you tell us about their contributions?
At the book launch, Prateik thanked me for bringing out facets of his mother's life before him - he said that he only knows his mother from articles, her movies and through stories narrated to him by the family and her colleagues. Smita's family and friends were exceptionally generous in sharing the details of her life. Her sisters shared notes that she'd dash off impulsively whenever she wanted to meet her family members.
Image Source: masala
Was she an impulsive person?
Smita expressed what she had to instantly. Her mother, when she was alive, had shared a letter from Smita to her father. Anita (her sister) shared the postcards she wrote to her nephews when they were away. Going back to your question, her family shared rare pictures of her. There is one taken on Smita's last birthday with her parents before she died, one taken when she was a toddler at the airport.
Now that the book is out, do you feel it would have helped if had you ever interviewed Smita?
One of the regrets of my life is that I couldn't meet Smita because I had made a conscious decision as a journalist to not meet or chase stars for interviews. I didn't want to get enamoured by their seductive personalities. I didn't meet Smita and that helped me retain my objectivity. It became a journey for me to meet people who knew her and discover the woman behind the screen image. I've realised Smita was full of contradictions.
Image Source: pixshark
Who was the first person you met from the film fraternity while researching on Smita?
Shabana Azmi. The first thing she said is that they were never friends and the media built such rivalry that they could never become friends. Bhawana Somaiya, a senior journalist, compares it to Aamir Khan-Shah Rukh Khan camps. They were civil with each other when they met but their followers clashed all the time.
What did she have to say about Smita?
During the shoot of Mandi, Shabana discovered that Smita was actually very tomboyish. She could ride a bike and took a road trip from Delhi to Mumbai in a jonga with a friend. It was difficult for Shabana to believe Smita was that adventurous.
Image Source: newstracklive
Shabana also made a confession at the book launch...
Shabana admitted that she had said unkind things about Smita when she was alive. It was gracious of her to apologise for it in front of everyone who mattered. Despite their sour relationship, they didn't let their familial relations suffer. Shabana agreed to become a chief guest at Smita's mother Vidyatai's NGO function. Likewise, Smita respected Shabana's mother. Shabana had fought with the makers of Bazaar arguing that she had a connection with Hyderabad and the accent for the role, and Smita shouldn't have been cast. When Shaukat Azmi joined the cast for the shoot, Smita quietly gave her the larger room of the hotel and shifted into a small room herself.
The two actresses worked together in a couple of films including Arth. Was it easy for Smita to be a part of it where the audience was naturally going to sympathise with Shabana's character?
Smita bravely took on the role knowing that the audience will sympathise with Shabana. But she was fed up of playing those working-class women roles. Mahesh Bhatt had told me Smita was his first choice to play Kavita. She played the unstable other woman very honestly. Her body language was so brittle. Few know that she was going through similar trauma in her personal life. She had gone against her upbringing and fallen for a married man.
Image Source: masala
Do you think Smita was lonely in her personal life too?
I think she was the loneliest when she was expecting Prateik. The man she was married to and was bearing the child of (Raj Babbar) was unsupportive in that phase. She used to drive all alone from Carter Road to Kemps Corner to see her doctor.
Was it the emotional turmoil that took a toll on her?
Difficult to say that but her mother had rejected her choice of man (Raj Babbar). Fortunately, they reconciled when she needed her mom the most - during the last trimester of her pregnancy. Her mom would bring her varan bhaat, which she craved in that phase. Smita had made up her mind that she would leave Raj after childbirth. She wanted to be a mother all her life because she loved nurturing. She wanted to live in a vada (a huge house) with eight kids. She had decided that after her delivery, she'd assist her filmmaker friend Aruna Raje on Rehaai. She was fragile and strong; struggling with her contradictions.
Image Source: pixshark
Any other colleagues apart from Shabana and Deepti who spilled the beans on Smita's life?
Om Puri was a fund of incidents. Smita's friend Jhelum Paranchpe introduced me to the actress' bindaas side. I met Kirit Trivedi, a retired professor from IIT Mumbai, who had discovered that Smita was a brilliant photographer. He found this much after she passed away. Manya and he held 2-3 exhibitions of her pictures. Once, she actually climbed a tree to capture workers on the sets.
Image Source: indusladies
You've not mentioned Naseeruddin Shah so far. What did he say considering Smita and he worked together in most of her films?
I tried Naseer for about six months, but his secretary would tell me different things each time I tried contacting him. He'd be on work or on holiday. Six months down, I had enough content to write the book without his contributions. Naseer just never met me.
What about her husband Raj Babbar? He too doesn't feature in the book...
This book was conceived 10 years ago. Raj Babbar was active on the political scene. He didn't respond to my requests for an audience with him. He didn't even make an acknowledging phone call. When the book became a larger property, I tried to get to him again through Juhi Babbar but it didn't help.
If a biopic was to be made on Smita, who do you think would be best suited to play the role?
Radhika Apte or Nandita Das. But the question is which filmmaker will helm it? It has to be truthful. I don't know if anyone will be brave enough to direct that film. Smita deserves a true biopic on her!
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