Forty years after Smita Patil’s death, a new Filmfare conversation with her longtime hairdresser Maya Surendra Pupala opens a different window into the actor. It is not about her filmography but about what she was like between shots, at home, and in her final days.
For fans who grew up on her performances, Smita Patil remains one of Hindi cinema’s most respected actors. She died in 1986, shortly after the birth of her son Prateik, cutting short a career that already included landmark work. Maya’s account fills the personal side of that loss.
From parlour Mondays to ‘Mityama’
Maya says Mukesh Bhatt first brought her in to work with Smita, and they went on to do films including Sutradhaar and Aakhir Kyun. Smita and her mother liked her work, and the relationship quickly outgrew the vanity van. Maya called her “Mityama.” When the parlour stayed shut on Mondays, Smita would visit for varan bhaat and potato bhaji; after the meal, she would nap in the back room. There were no airs, Maya recalls, despite Smita’s stature.
“She was an angel.”
Pregnancy, a palm reader and a godh bharai
Some of the warmest details arrive around Smita’s pregnancy. Maya remembers the Waaris shoot in Nashik, a Shirdi trip, and scolding Smita for lying down with wet hair. On 14 September, when Smita said she had completed seven months, Maya arranged a godh bharai at her sister’s home in MIG Colony. Raj Babbar and Asghar Ali were among those present.
Maya does not shy away from the complication: Smita and Raj were in love, but her mother did not approve because he was married. She also remembers a co-star reading Smita’s palm and telling her she would not live long; Smita found the remark strange and unnecessary.
Prateik and the final days
Maya was with Smita through labour. She describes a difficult delivery and a spinal injection, and says she was not happy with the overall treatment. Smita was discharged on the seventh day; her feet were swollen, but she paid little attention. After the birth, Smita told Maya, “Now Prateik is your son.”
Soon after, a cousin called to say Smita was unwell. She did not want to go to hospital because Prateik was so small; Maya promised to look after him. That reassurance got her to hospital. She died there, and Raj Babbar sent Maya home to inform Smita’s mother and others. Maya called Smita’s sister Anita. Then, with Deepak Sawant, she dressed her “like a bride.”
Why this memory matters
Stories like this matter because they complicate the myth of the great artiste. Smita Patil was not just a face on a poster; she treated Maya as family, sent her home when her grandmother died, and walked in the Hope 86 strike while heavily pregnant. For a generation that knows her only through reels and retrospectives, these details make her feel close again.
- Smita would eat Maharashtrian food and nap at Maya’s parlour on Mondays, with no starry behaviour.
- On 14 September, during her seventh month, Maya held a godh bharai for her; Raj Babbar attended.
- After Prateik’s birth, she told Maya, “Now Prateik is your son”; days later, Maya and Deepak Sawant dressed her like a bride.
Maya also leaves a gentle afternote: she later moved to Canada, kept meeting Prateik as a child, and says that of late he has not been in touch.
Source: Filmfare