The Fitoor actress Katrina Kaif being conferred the Smita Patil Memorial Award has grabbed headlines on social media since evening. Twitterati have passed several nasty remarks on how the award is an insult to the great Smita, who passed away at the age of 31 soon after giving birth to Prateik.
We spoke to a few people who knew Smita very closely, and right into our first call we knew that the industry guys wanted to say a lot but were somehow holding themselves back.
When contacted, Om Puri who worked with Smita in Ardh Satya, said, "Main kya karun?" and hung up. We called him again but he did not pick up thereafter. The response sounded as if he hadn't heard anything more shocking than this before and also that he was angry.
Ketan Mehta, who directed Smita in MIrch Masala, was crystal clear that Katrina does not deserve the Smita Patil Memorial Award, "I really don't want to talk about this. This whole thing just demeans Smita's memories," he quipped.
A leading producer (name withheld on request) could not stop laughing and when we asked him to get serious and give us a quote, he simply said, "Please leave me alone. Don't take my opinion because I am only a producer. Try talking to Govind Nihalani and Shyam Benegal."
Repeated calls to Nihalani (Aakrosh, Ardh Satya) and Benegal (Bhumika, Manthan) failed to evoke a response. Naseeruddin Shah who worked with Smita in maximum number of movies (Ghulami, Rihaee, Bhumika, Aakrosh...) too chose to remain mum.
However, ad guru Prahlad Kakkar was at his wittiest best when he said that he would like to give his take in two parts- sarcasm and truth.
First, the sarcasm. "Katrina has come a long way from where she started. She can at least speak a bit of HIndi now, maybe the award is for the promotion of the language," he giggled, and then added, "As for acting, I think she tries very hard."
Second, the truth. "Now, let me tell you the justification which I see in she having got this award. Katrina started off with the disastrous Boom. The last film I saw of her was Dhoom. Didn't she do a spectacular job in that YRF film? Remember how well she danced, she worked her a**e off in Dhoom didn't she? I don't remember any actress like her who has turned night into day for herself. She doesn't have any natural talent but it's simply her hard work that has paid off, and the people who have worked with her will vouch for this. Her chart has been progressive and I am very impressed."
Concluded Kakkar, "I knew Smita personally. The only actress who came close to her was Shabana Azmi."
Image Source: Hdwallpapers, Indiaforum, Blogvrl & Alchetron
We spoke to a few people who knew Smita very closely, and right into our first call we knew that the industry guys wanted to say a lot but were somehow holding themselves back.
When contacted, Om Puri who worked with Smita in Ardh Satya, said, "Main kya karun?" and hung up. We called him again but he did not pick up thereafter. The response sounded as if he hadn't heard anything more shocking than this before and also that he was angry.
Ketan Mehta, who directed Smita in MIrch Masala, was crystal clear that Katrina does not deserve the Smita Patil Memorial Award, "I really don't want to talk about this. This whole thing just demeans Smita's memories," he quipped.
A leading producer (name withheld on request) could not stop laughing and when we asked him to get serious and give us a quote, he simply said, "Please leave me alone. Don't take my opinion because I am only a producer. Try talking to Govind Nihalani and Shyam Benegal."
Repeated calls to Nihalani (Aakrosh, Ardh Satya) and Benegal (Bhumika, Manthan) failed to evoke a response. Naseeruddin Shah who worked with Smita in maximum number of movies (Ghulami, Rihaee, Bhumika, Aakrosh...) too chose to remain mum.
However, ad guru Prahlad Kakkar was at his wittiest best when he said that he would like to give his take in two parts- sarcasm and truth.
First, the sarcasm. "Katrina has come a long way from where she started. She can at least speak a bit of HIndi now, maybe the award is for the promotion of the language," he giggled, and then added, "As for acting, I think she tries very hard."
Second, the truth. "Now, let me tell you the justification which I see in she having got this award. Katrina started off with the disastrous Boom. The last film I saw of her was Dhoom. Didn't she do a spectacular job in that YRF film? Remember how well she danced, she worked her a**e off in Dhoom didn't she? I don't remember any actress like her who has turned night into day for herself. She doesn't have any natural talent but it's simply her hard work that has paid off, and the people who have worked with her will vouch for this. Her chart has been progressive and I am very impressed."
Concluded Kakkar, "I knew Smita personally. The only actress who came close to her was Shabana Azmi."
Image Source: Hdwallpapers, Indiaforum, Blogvrl & Alchetron