Good directors are so difficult to come by: Smita Patil

Smita Patil - relying on rapport"Hansa Wadkar is the most difficult film I have done so far, and therefore, the most satisfying. It was frightening at first - it is a plum role which any actress would give her right hand to get - and I didn't feel confident enough to tackle it. But I guess ultimately it is a question of having faith in one's director - such a wonderful rapport exists between me and Shyam - I know what he wants from me and he knows how much I can give him," said Smita Patil who plays the lead in Shyam Benegal's latest film based on the life of actress, Hansa Wadkar (a popular Marathi screen heroine of the 40s and 50s). In the last three years Patil has come a long way from being Bombay TV's announcer "who resembles Jaya Bhaduri", to become the favourite leading lady of Shyam Benegal's unit.Patil impressed with her brief but sensitive performance as the zamindar's wife in Nishant and has since gone on to star in Benegal's Manthan - India's official entry at the festival to be held at New Delhi in December this year. Surprisingly enough, Patil has kept herself away from the big banner commercial film rackets and seems quite happy about it."I think it's because of Shyam," explains Patil. "He is so terribly involved with film-making that he is not concerned with anything else - whether the film will sell or not - you know, the commercial angle of it. He makes no compromises and is very honest about his work, the way he treats his subjects. It just isn't the same with other directors.A part of the tamashaI am doing a film with a new and quite intelligent director called Prayag Raj. I find him good, but the urgency, the effort, the involvement you find in Shyam's unit is totally lacking. Maybe because Shashi Kapoor and a few other big stars are in it, that things go at such a leisurely pace. And then Shyam is very protective about his unit.He feels we're all very young and money will spoil us. I used to consult him about all the film offers I received and one day he said to me, "All this is for you to decide. But first decide for yourself what you want - whether you want to do a film for the money or for the film itself. I've always kept that in mind."Patil for her mere 21 years does show surprising restraint and level headedness. Unlike Shabana Azmi, who delighted critics with her performance in Ankur and Nishant and later thoroughly disappointed them with her wholesale commercialization in films like Kaadambari and Fakira, Patil does not aspire to become a commercial heroine at all."I used to think that doing one commercial film just for the heck of it would be fun, but in Hindi films you can't stop there. I don't know if Shabana wanted to get so swamped in commercial films, but I wonder if she will be able to get out of the commercial whirl - I think she is too far in it now!"Manthan, Patil's first film as leading lady, deals with the problems facing milk cooperatives in Gujarat. Shot almost entirely on location at Sanganva near Rajkot, the cast includes Benegal's usual team - Amrish Puri, Anant Nag, Nasiruddin Shah, Girish Karnad, with Gobind Nihlani behind the camera. Patil has undoubtedly put in a competent bit of acting, and it will not be long before she is hailed as another of our "art film heroines" by critics who tend to make that rather pointless distinction.Patil's other as yet untitled, unreleased film is based on Hansa Wadkar's autobiography "Sangte Aika" (Marathi). "I have worked really, really hard on this film," said Patil feelingly. "During a particular scene, I just couldn't cry. We don't use glycerine, you see, and Shyam stood beside the camera urging me to cry.It took me a long time to cry, and I said to myself, "What a bitch I am. The whole film depends on this scene, and I cannot even shed a few tears for it." and I cried as never before. It was quite chaotic because after I started to cry I couldn't stop and I cried for four hours. I kept forgetting my lines, my words were muffled and by the end of it I was totally spent, my eyes red and swollen. But they all say it was a good shot."Then there was the lavani scene. Shyam said to me, "This is sex for sale. You have to sell yourself to the audience. I know you have never done it in your life, but you must do it now." That's the film within film technique Shyam has employed for the film. and somehow, although after many takes and rehearsals, I found myself getting into the spirit of the song, making those awful, suggestive, gestures, wriggling and squirming-so much a part of the tamasha!"Patil seems happy enough, but somewhat unsure of the future, "I know I want to act in good films. But good directors are so difficult to come by. Moreover, most good directors prefer to take on faces which are not very well known. I hope I don't get pushed into doing commercial films because, truly, that will be the end of Smita Patil!"Published By: AtMigration Published On: Apr 16, 2015 10:17 IST--- ENDS ---

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Good directors are so difficult to come by: Smita Patil

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