Smita Patil was born on 17 October 1955, in Pune, Maharashtra into a Hindu-Marathi family, to a Maharashtrian politician father, Shivajirao Girdhar Patil and social worker mother Vidyatai Patil, from Shirpur town of Khandesh province … See more

Patil began her career in the early 1970s as a television newsreader on the newly transmitting Mumbai Doordarshan, the Indian government run broadcaster. Her first film role was in the FTII student film Teevra Ma… See more

Patil was an active feminist and was member of the Women's Centre in Mumbai. She attempted to portray women's issues through her different films. She was also involved in charity work, donating the winnings o… See more