Then there is Smita Patil who passed away in 1986 at the shockingly young age of 31. The actress who was a fascinating amalgam of a steel-strong will as well as heart-tugging vulnerability, deserves the 'amazing actress' legend that has been built around her.Smita was the daughter of a minister and a social-worker mother. Born in Pune, Maharashtra, she studied at a Marathi medium school. Her first tryst with the camera was as a television newscaster. Her dusky beauty and large eyes drew attention. Always a bit of a rebel, she would grin when people complimented her on looking lovely in the saris she sported for the telecasts because minutes before going on air, she would have hurriedly wrapped the sari over her jeans.
Smita shared a special relationship with the camera and, incidentally, she was very good behind the camera too: an exhibition of photographs clicked by her was held posthumously.
One of the major beneficiaries of the mid-1970s efflorescence of the art movement in Hindi cinema, Smita's film career got off the ground courtesy mentor Shyam Benegal. After he cast her in the children's film Charandas Chor [1975], and in a small role in Nishant [1975], Smita seemed to suddenly hold a monopoly over Benegal. For a while, she even seemed to have won him away from Shabana Azmi, with whom the filmmaker had done some excellent work in Ankur and Nishant.
Smita sprang to the spotlight with Benegal's Manthan [1977], where she played a Harijan woman who spearheads a revolt at the milk co-operative. Next, Benegal cast her in a more demanding role --- Bhumika [1977]. A fictionalised biography of Indian actress Hansa Wadkar, Bhumika won Smita the National Award for Best Actress. Smita played the complex role of an actress struggling to lead her life on her own terms (through her chequered history with four men --- Amol Palekar, Anant Nag, Naseeruddin Shah and Amrish Puri) and imbued it with an insight that belied her 22 years!
As long as it revealed the psyche of her character, Smita was game to go the extra mile --- she did a bathing scene in the open for Chakra, some intense love-making scenes in Aakrosh and even kissed Kulbhushan Kharbanda's toes in Arth.
Priyanka was born on July 18, 1982, in the Chopra family consisting
of her dad, Dr. Ashok and mom, Dr. Madhu (nee Akhauri), and has one
younger brother. Her dad is Punjabi-speaking, while her mom is from
Bihar. As a child, she suffered from Asthma and was very close to her
dad. Her family affectionately called her Mimi.While she was
born in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, she also spent her childhood in Bareilly,
in Uttar Pradesh as well as in Lucknow, where she was enrolled in the
La Martiniere Girls' School. These frequent re-locations took place as
Ashok was a doctor in the Indian Army. She subsequently re-located to
the U.S. where she studied in Newton's Newton North High School and then
in Cedar Rapid's John F. Kennedy High School in Massachusetts and Iowa
respectively.In 2000 she returned to India and enrolled in Jai
Hind College and Basant Singh Institute of Science in Churchgate,
Bombay, but had to leave abruptly as she was crowned Miss India. She was
subsequently crowned Miss World in the same year - a year which proved
to be a year for Indian Beauty Queens - as Lara Dutta and Dia Mirza were
also crowned Miss Universe and Miss Asia Pacific respectively.
Ironically, beauty pageants are banned in India's conservative state,
Uttar Pradesh.After completing her responsibilities as a Beauty
Queen, she first appeared on the tinsel screen in India in a Tamil movie
'Thamizhan'.She made her in Bollywood with 'The Hero' in 2002, and then went on to act in over
28 movies, as well as lent her voice as a playback singer in 'Barsaat
(2005)'. She has won 11 to date for her performance in 'Andaaz', 'Aitraaz', 'The Hero', 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi', & 'Krrish'.As
of June 2007, she is involved in the filming of 'Sahib Biwi Aur
Ghulam', 'Kajri', 'Drona', 'London Dreams', 'Qurbani', 'Chamki Chameli',
'Love Story 2050' amongst others.
