A few years ago, Bollywood actor Prateik Babbar had once shared a quote of his legendary actress mother, Smita Patil, in which she talked about late actress Sridevi.
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Smita Patil was quoted saying that the industry exploited Sridevi. "Sridevi is a good friend of mine. I really would like to talk to her, ask her whether she is aware of the way she is being exploited," Smita said.
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The quote was so powerful that it created a curiosity among us to look for more information about that same. And we found an old Stardust interview of Smita Patil's where she talked about the new actresses and the changing Indian Cinema.
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In the same interview, Smita Patil talked about Sridevi and Amitabh Bachchan's song in 'Inquilab' which was shot at a swimming pool, "Somehow everyone's taste has also become very vulgar. There is one swimming pool song in ‘Inquilab'. God, you make the audience into voyeurs. I wonder how the women audience react. They must be feeling very embarrassed, ashamed at such a blatant display of female flesh."
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Smita felt such film should be banned,"I think it is the women audience who should get together and revolt. In Delhi, the ‘Saheli' group had led out an agitation against vulgar kind of Malyalam films, and succeeded in getting them banned."
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Smita Patil also talked a length about her good friend Sridevi, she said that she had being exploited, "Sridevi is a good friend of mine. I really would like to talk to her and ask her whether she is aware of how she is being exploited. Maybe she is not. I cannot say I was not exploited. During ‘Chakra' I was too naïve to realise the suggestion of that bathing scene. I was convinced and I defended it for years. It took me four years to realise - a thinking person like me."
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Not just only Sridevi, Smita also talked about some south Indian actresses who are doing such silly, meaningless songs and scenes for money, "And these South Indian actresses have not even been brought up to think. Their surroundings don't give them a chance to grow very much mentally. They are groomed to be actresses from their childhood. They are extremely protected on the sets and otherwise. So it is only natural that they look at life through their parent's eyes. They do these meaningless scenes to make enough money and get married. And by the end of their lives they haven't even realised that they were being exploited all their life. It's a pity."
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