Speaking at the event Bachchan recalled an incident which took place while he was shooting for Coolie in Bangalore. Late into the night at around 2 am I received call in my hotel room. “Smita looked very frail and gentle, nearly as frail as the wonderful flowers which she used to bring to me when I had my accident. I have been guilty of making uncharitable remarks about her and I regret it. There were efforts at reconciliation and we were able to maintain civility but it never turned into friendship; however, at no point did that spill over to our families”, she said.
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The guests were attended to by Smita Patil’s son, Prateik Babbar while the book was launched by Amitabh Bachchan – the chief guest at the function. “The next day I had my accident”, he said. Over the phone Smita said how she had a bad dream and asked him to stay healthy. The biography traces the life of the talented actor, right from her childhood to when she achieved stardom including her controversial marriage and untimely death.
The “Sholay” star finds it interesting that Patil’s films with him were against the “culture and thinking” of the actress. Never having met the actor when she was alive, Rao said that writing the book was a journey of getting to know her. Celebrated director Shyam Benegal lauded Smita’s ability to blossom in front of camera. “When it comes to do doing cinema (films) with me, she did things that were against her nature like in “Namak Halal” she had to do rain dance with me. Her name always will be counted when we mention names of finest actors of Indian cinema”, Azmi said.
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“She told me she has worked in so many good films but once when she was at the airport she felt bit awkward and embarrassed that people remembered her for “Namak Halal”,”he added”.
