National Film Archive of India to pay homage to Smita Patil

National Film Archive of India to pay homage to Smita Patil

National Film

NEW DELHI: A two-day film festival to remember versatile actress Smita Patil on her sixtieth birth anniversary is being held by the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) in Pune.

‘Remembering Smita’ on 17 and 18 October will also showcase a rare poster and photo exhibition on her from the NFAI collection.

The festival will showcase eight films including her debut short film Teevra Madhyam. Other films includeBhavni Bahvai, Akaler Sandhaney, Jait Re Jait, Bazaar, Debshishu, Tarang, and Chidambaram. Out of these films, three films - Akaler Sandhaney, Jait Re Jait and Chidambaram have been restored by NFAI.

The Festival is a tribute to the multi-talented actress who died on 13 December, 1986 at the age of 31 due to childbirth complications.

The festival would be inaugurated on 17 October at 11 am by actor Amol Palekar.

A panel discussion on Patil will be held at 6 pm on 18 October with Dr Jabbar Patel, Dr Mohan Agashe and Lalita Tamhane as participants. The discussion would deliberate upon her unique style, her acting career and contribution to the film industry.

The venue for the festival is NFAI campus, Law College road, Pune.

A film, television and theatre personality regarded as one of the finest actresses of all time, Patil worked in around 80 Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam and Bengali films. She left her mark with two National film awards for best actress and Padma Shri in 1985.

Born on 17 October, 1955, Patil graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Puneand made her film debut with Shyam Benegal's Charandas Chor (1975). Some of the other films that sheappeared in include Manthan (1977), Bhumika (1977), Aakrosh (1980), Chakra (1981), Chidambaram (1985), Mirch Masala (1985) and Namak Halaal amongst others.

The schedule of the festival is as below,

Inauguration: 17 October, 2015 at 11 am