Smita Patil's Manthan At Cannes, Prateik Babbar Says 'My Mother Brought Authenticity To Every Role'

Bollywood actor Prateik Babbar, son of celebrated artists Smita Patil and Raj Babbar, never got a chance to know his mother. Smita Patil passed away from complications from childbirth and died within a few days of Prateik’s birth. The young actor only had his mother’s rich and intellectually stimulating filmography to get to know her. Recently, Prateik had the honour of representing his mother’s iconic film Manthan at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 17.

Prateik Babbar, remembering Smita Patil, said that she was a wonderful actress who had a wonderful way of seeing the world through the eyes of others. Prateik told IANS, ‘My mother could connect emotionally with her character. She brought authenticity to every role she played. Her performance was not limited to just acting but was about living the life of the character she played. Her honesty and dedication towards her art still resonates among the audience.”

He also said that he was honoured to represent Smita Patil’s film Manthan at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, which also marks his debut at Cannes. He said that the moment was deeply close to him, being the legendary actress’s son as he always considered his late mother one of the best actresses in the country. He further said that he was proud that the film Manthan was restored to be screened at Cannes and that his mother would have been proud too, had she been alive.

Manthan, directed by iconic parallel filmmaker Shyam Benegal released in 1976 and was inspired by the pioneering milk cooperative movement of Verghese Kurien. The movie was unique as the production of the film was entirely crowd-funded by 5,00,000 farmers who donated Rs 2 each. It won the National Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and Best Screenplay for Vijay Tendulkar.

Meanwhile, Prateik made his debut with the film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na where he played Genelia D’souza’s attention-seeking brother. Although his role was appreciated, he appeared as a lead in a few films that did no good to his career. He has now settled for supporting roles in films like Dhobi Ghat, Aarakshan and Dum Maaro Dum.