'Didn't Know Mirch Masala Would Be Her Last Film'

'She was my only choice to play Sonbai. The moment she read the script, she slipped into character.'

Ketan Mehta's Mirch Masala was the last film that Smita Patil worked in before her shocking death.

Subhash K Jha celebrates the actor's 69th birth anniversary on October 17 by looking back at the film, and asking the director for beautiful insights into its making.

What was it like working with Smita Patil in her last film?

We didn't know while shooting that Mirch Masala would be her last film.

Smita was a very dear friend.

Mirch Masala was one of her best performances. It turned out to be her last film.

She just dubbed the film and went away. She got all the nuances right.

How long had you known her?

I knew her from our film institute days. When I was assisting a senior director Arun Khopkar in his diploma film, Smita had come to act in it.

She also acted in my first feature film Bhavni Bhavai.

Was Smita the non-negotiable choice for Mirch Masala?

She was my only choice to play Sonbai. The moment she read the script, she slipped into character.

What made you choose this story?

Mirch Masala is a film about the human condition. There's a short story by a Gujarati writer Chunnilal Madia.

It was a four-page story but that was based in a tobacco factory in Saurashtra.

It ended with the watchman of the factory dying. I converted it into a chilli factory.

The red chillies made the film visually resplendent.

The moment I saw these chilly fields in Gujarat, the idea came to me.

The film ended with Sonbai throwing chillies in the villain's eyes.

The protest had begun.

Do you feel the position of the rural woman has improved since you made Mirch Masala?

Not at all. All the actors in the film were my friends.

Naseer (Naseeruddin Shah) and Om (Puri) were with me in the film institute, and both were brilliant.

Mohan Gokhale was also a friend. He had also acted in Bhavni Bhavai.

Mirch Masala is recalled with great fondness even after 37 years.

Yes! It was shot in a village named Chotila near Rajkot.

Funnily, I had selected another location. I had just finished Holi.

Suddenly, the NFDC funding for Mirch Masala came through. So I rushed to location and got to know that if I didn't finish all my shooting by March, all the chillies would be gone.

So I asked my cast and crew in January and like a miracle, they agreed to accommodate me.

Smita, Naseer, Raj Babbar and Suresh Oberoi were busy actors.

The film remains your signature work.

In 2010, there was a film festival devoted to women film-makers in Chennai. They had invited Mirch Masala although I am not a woman.

They obviously saw it as a film on women's empowerment.

So far away from Gujarat, that evening in Chennai, young Tamil women responded so well to Mirch Masala that they brought tears to my eyes.

Is Mirch Masala your favourite work?

That and Bhavni Bhavai and Maya Memsaab.