Shabana Azmi opens up about rivalry with Smita Patil, says she regrets making ‘uncharitable’ comments about her

Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil worked together in the award-winning 1982 film Arth, and were immediately pitted against each other.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | April 15, 2023 05:32 PM IST

3 min read

A still from the film Arth, the only film co-starring Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil. (Photo: Express Archives)

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Actor Shabana Azmi won a National Film Award in the best actress category for her performance in the 1982 film Arth, which co-starred her acclaimed contemporary, Smita Patil. The two actors were immediately pitted against each other, being among the top names in the Hindi film industry at the time. Shabana admitted in a new interview that the reports about them being at odds weren’t entirely fictitious, and that she did indeed consider Smita a ‘rival’.

In an interview with News18’s Showsha, Shabana said that she regrets making certain ‘uncharitable’ comments about the late actor during the peak of their respective careers. “There was some truth to it. Smita and I treated each other like rivals, but media ne usko chadha diya, thoda sa tadka, mirch laga kar usko aur badhaya (the media blew it out of proportion), but I wouldn’t blame it entirely on the media,” said Shabana.

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In Mahesh Bhatt’s Arth, Shabana and Smita’s characters were pining for the same man’s love. While Shabana played Kulbhushan Kharbanda’s wife, Smita played the role of his lover. Recalling her rivalry with Smita, who passed away in 1986, Shabana said, “It (rivalry) was not fictitious, there were some basis to it, and then it was exaggerated, but I feel that I did say some uncharitable things about her which I regret. I shouldn’t have, but for me what’s very important is that I had a very good relationship with Smita Patil’s parents, with her sisters and now with Prateik (Smita Patil’s son).”

In an earlier interview with ETimes, Mahesh Bhatt had also spoken about the rivalry between the two actors. He said that Smita had never confessed to feeling insecure about Shabana. Mahesh said that both Shabana and Smita had a lot of respect for each other, but Shabana had confessed that Smita’s success ‘disturbed’ her. Mahesh called Shabana’s confession ‘brave’, and said that Smita’s death made Shabana feel poorer as she felt she had lost the only actor who could bring out the best in her.

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