One of the most talented actresses in Indian Cinema, Smita Patil was born in Pune in 1955. Her father was a former minister in the government of Maharashtra. She was a news reader on Doordarshan when she was discovered by Shyam Benegal. She went to deliver extraordinary performances for Benegal in films like Manthan, Charandas Chor, Nishant, Mandi and most of all Bhumika, the film based on the life of Marathi screen actress Hansa Wadkar.

She worked for almost all the filmmakers who were leading the charge of parallel cinema in that era. Her other performances that stand out include those in films like Satyajit Ray's Sadgati, Govind Nihalani's Aakrosh, Jabbar Patel's Umbartha and Jait Re Jait, G Aravindam's Chidambaram, Ketan Mehta's Bhavani Bhavai, Mahesh Bhatt's Arth and Robindra Dharmaraj's Chakra. She also got her share of mainstream success with films like Shakti and Namak Halal. Her work was celebrated at the festival of La Rochelle and by the French cinematheque in 1984.

She was an activist and a photographer. Her skills as a photographer became evident in an exhibition of her work 'Through the eyes of Smita', at the National Centre for Performing Arts, Bombay in 1992. Smita was married to Raj Babbar. Her unfortunate death during childbirth at Smita Patil at the young age of 30 left a hole in the film world that has not yet been filled.