Team FC
In Shyam Benegal's drama about the creation of Amul which was funded by lakhs of farmers from Gujarat, Smita Patil played Bindu, a young woman whose husband has abandoned her who leads the village women in their quest to help create a cooperative.
Patil won a National Award for her portrayal of Usha, a talented singer-actress who is subjugated by the many men who force themselves into her life, personal and professional, and how she continues to persevere.
Sagar Sarhadi directed Patil as Najma opposite Naseeruddin Shah's Akhtar. The narrative revolved around the young couple's desire to wed and the societal shackles which prevent them from doing so.
In Gocind Nihalani's police procedural drama, Patil played Jyotsna, whose relationship with Om Puri's Anant forms one of the many strands of the film's grim plot.
In the Shyam Benegal film about life in a madam's brothel in Hyderabad, Patil played Zeenat, a classical singer-turned-sex worker, alongside the likes of Shabana Azmi, Neena Gupta, Soni Razdan, and Anita Kanwar.
G. Aravindan directed Patil in this Malayalam film in which she played Shivakaami, one of the characters through whom gender relations are examined in the film's cattle farm setting.
Ketan Mehta directed Patil in one of the final roles of her life, pitting her Sonbai against the villainy of Naseeruddin Shah's Subedar in a story of taxation in pre-Independence India.
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