‘I was extremely bitter about dad Raj Babbar, mom Smita Patil,' Prateik recalls growing up with ‘shame': ‘Na main maa ka, na baap ka'

Indian Express

12-05-2025

Prateik Smita Patil has been making headlines lately, after he broke ties with his father Raj Babbar and didn't invite him to his wedding. The actor, who adopted his mother and late actor Smita Patil's name, has now opened up about his complicated relationship with his parents and building his own identity amidst the difficult family situation. He also recalled his drug addiction phase and how people treated him because of the same.
In an interview with Zoom, Prateik shared the challenges he had to face while growing up and said, 'The nature of the situation was a little more intense because my parents were famous people. My mother is still a legend, very much celebrated. So it was different as my life was an open book since childhood, so that was the constant reminder. And seeing them not around kind of made me bitter about them both — extremely bitter.'
'So that was the tug of war — whether to accept them or not, whose fault is it? Then finally I'm at peace with everything. I mean, you still have to heal because these kinds of situations, these kinds of circumstances, are tough to overcome completely. You go through healing your entire life,' he added.
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During the candid conversation, Prateik Smita Patil also revealed the emotional reason behind adopting his mother's surname, 'I didn't know whose identity I wanted. 'Na main baap ka hoon na maa ka, main khud ka hu,' this confusion I had all my life. But now, finally, I've embraced my mother's name fully. I'm now called Prateik Smita Patil, and it's got a very beautiful ring to it. It sounds like music to my ears. I owed it to her to embrace her wholly and solely. She gave her life for me — she deserves it. A mother gave her life for her child, the least I could do is embrace her entire name,' he shared.
During the same interview, Prateik also opened up about his drug addiction back in 2013. He said, 'Drug addiction is a disease. We have to talk about it and get help. Mental health is a real thing.'
The Sikandar actor further explained how he was embarrassed and felt shameful during childhood, because of his family and substance abuse. 'Shame is something that I felt during my childhood days. I was ashamed of my family situation. I was ashamed of not having parents. Har jagah jaata tha toh sabke parents aate the, but mere saath mere grandparents aate the. Kabhi kabhi maid aur nanny bhi aa jaati thi. Mujhe bahut sharam aati thi,' he revealed.
Prateik continued, 'Embarrassment is not a nice feeling. I am proud of myself, as I have gone through all these adversities at a very young age. I had overdosed a few times, but my guardian angel was protecting me. I am proud of myself. It was tough. You get boycotted and labelled. You also get outcast.'
On the professional front, Prateik Smita Patil was last seen in Telugu crime thriller, HIT: The Third Case. It hit the theatres on May 1.