
This man in photo played hero and villain at the same time, was not invited to his son's wedding, can you recognise him?
Born in Uttar Pradesh into a Punjabi family, he completed his early education at Agra College. His love for the performing arts led him to the National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi, from where he graduated in 1975. The actor began his career with a supporting role in the controversial film Kissa Kursi Ka in 1977, but he did not land a substantial role until 1980.
It was B.R. Chopra's Insaaf Ka Tarazu that brought him into the spotlight, where he played the role of a rapist. The actor we are talking about is Raj Babbar. In the film, Babbar's character committed heinous crimes against Bharti Saxena, portrayed by Zeenat Aman, and later her sister, played by Padmini Kolhapure. This negative role made him famous overnight. From that point on, there was no looking back.
In the 1980s, films like Prem Geet, Nikaah, Umrao Jaan, Aaj Ki Awaaz , and Agar Tum Na Hote established Babbar as a romantic and serious actor. His roles in films like Bodyguard, Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 2, and Bullet Raja proved that he can fit into every kind of role. Raj Babbar's personal life was in the news because…
Raj Babbar's personal life was often in the spotlight, much like his films. In 1975, he married theatre artist Nadira Zaheer, with whom he has a daughter, Juhi Babbar, and a son, Arya Babbar. However, in 1982, he met actress Smita Patil on the sets of the film Bheegi Palkein, and the two began dating. Their relationship made headlines at the time, as Raj was already married.
Raj and Smita got married in 1983, and their son, Prateik Babbar (Prateik Smita Patil), was born in 1986. Unfortunately, fate had other plans—Smita Patil passed away just a few days after Prateik's birth. Her sudden demise was a huge shock for Raj. Later, he returned to Nadira and reunited with his family. Raj Babbar was not invited to his son Prateik's marriage
His son Prateik recently got married, but he chose not to invite his father, Raj Babbar. He explained that the decision was made because the wedding took place at his mother, Smita Patil's residence, and out of respect for the past complications between Nadira and Smita. However, Prateik also clarified that there is no personal animosity between him and his father.
Raj Babbar with his son Prateik
Prateik said, 'My father's wife and my mother had some complications in the past, lots of things have been said in the press and stuff like that if you dig out 38-40 years ago. I was open to doing something with my father and his family for another function. I just thought it was unethical to have him and his family at that house when after everything had went on between them. Absolutely, it wasn't right. The right thing to do was to what we did and then if, obviously now circumstances are different, everything is gone South and it's extremely complicated. But it's not for me. I'm still the same.'
He added, 'It wasn't about rejecting anyone. It was about respecting my mother and her wishes… I'm sorry my father and his wife could not be there, could not be in the house my mother bought for me to grow up and live a life as a single mother. She wanted to live in that house with me as a single mother. Bring me up. I'm sorry. That was the best decision my wife and I made. And it could have been very, very subtle scenario and everything could have been subtle. But people are impulsive, people make impulsive choices and say things out of impulse and it was just distasteful and I think that bitter taste has remained.'
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Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
When Raj Babbar revealed he was smitten by Smita Patil from their very first meeting: ‘She did not seem to care about..'
Raj Babbar was one of the top actors of the 1970s. Known for his strong performances and striking screen presence, he made a mark not just in Hindi films but in Punjabi cinema and on television too. But beyond his successful career, it was his personal life, and especially his bond with actress Smita Patil , that often made headlines. Let's look back at the moment when Raj Babbar first met Smita Patil and how that meeting changed everything for him. When Raj Babbar met Smita Patil Raj Babbar and Smita Patil first worked together in the 1980 film Bheegi Palkein. But according to Raj, their first meeting actually happened before that—on the sets of the same film in Rourkela, Odisha. In a note published on Rediff in 2006, Raj opened up about how it all began. He said, 'I met her for the first time in Rourkela in Orissa, where we had gone to shoot Satish Misra's film Bheegi Palken. Our first meeting ended in a sort of clash — a sweet clash that laid the foundation of a relationship later.' Even though their meeting began with a bit of a disagreement, something about Smita Patil left a strong impression on Raj. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Your donations can help this little boy see again clearly Donate For Health Donate Now Undo He added, 'She was there with her assistant. I was impressed by her from the word go. She did not seem to care about people around her, and refused to acknowledge the presence of many. I would say that she was a bit mizaazwali (this is being said with all the respect and humility towards her). But that was the impression I got from our first meeting on the sets. ' A short-lived marriage In 1983, Raj Babbar and Smita Patil got married. Though their relationship had already faced a lot of judgement, the couple stayed strong. Their love story took a new turn in 1986 when they welcomed their son, Prateik Babbar . Sadly, their happiness did not last long. On 13 December 1986, just 15 days after giving birth to their baby boy, Smita Patil passed away due to complications related to childbirth. Her sudden death left not just Raj Babbar, but the entire film industry and fans in shock.

The Wire
3 days ago
- The Wire
The Theatre of Ratan Thiyam: Profound Beauty on the Modern Stage
I remember Ratan Thiyam, almost always dressed in black, performing an elaborate curtain call along with his actors at the end of his show. Together they would all go down on their knees and touch their foreheads to the stageboards so as to thank the audience for coming to the performance. The grace of this gesture in some sense encoded the essence of Ratan's theatre work – its formal rigour and its elegance as it walked the fine line between performance and secular ritual for, and of, the modern stage. One the most celebrated theatre makers of India, Ratan Thiyam, who passed on July 23, 2025, in Imphal at the age of 77, was in command of many roles at one and the same time throughout his life. He was a theatre director of brilliance, but was also a writer and a poet, a theatre teacher, a guru, a distinguished organiser and a leader – heading institutions like the National School of Drama as its Director (1987–88) and as its Chairperson (2013–17), while creatively shaping the artistic style of the renowned Chorus Repertory Company that has performed across India and the world to great acclaim for more than four decades. However, let me begin this tribute to Ratan by taking a step sideways. It is said that there is a philosophical connection between landscape artists, horticulturalists and theatre makers. All of them understand the effects of a slant of light, the depth of shadow, grades of colour, chiaroscuro, and the inter-relationships, by placement, between nature, humans and objects. I had the occasion several years ago to visit the Chorus Repertory Company, located at the edges of Imphal city, and I vividly remember the nearly three-acre site: the neatly trimmed hedges, the small pond, the clusters of trees with blossoming vines wrapped around their trunks, the flower beds, the vegetable patch, and the gravelly pathways connecting one part to another. The vegetables harvested from the fields fed everyone who lived on site including Ratan. He lovingly introduced the garden, the water body and the plants, many of which he had planted himself. Also read: Ratan Thiyam, the Risks He Took and the Future of Indian Theatre Working the land was a part of the daily routine set up several decades before the connections between agricultural activity and theatre practice had come into focus, as they have done now. Apart from this there was, and still is, another routine in place – of practising movement, breath, vocalisation, song and music derived from the vocabularies of Manipuri dance traditions, martial arts and ritual practices. This training happened in a cluster of buildings set amidst the landscape, that included an exhibition space, a rehearsal space, and a blackbox theatre equipped with light and sound systems. Away from the noise of the city, the Chorus Repertory as imagined by Ratan functions as a sort of ashram, where skill is transferred to the shishya – student – on a daily and continual basis, a mode of transmission different from the segmented time-tables of 'modern' theatre training institutes. But back to the theatre maker and the horticulturalist, and their understanding of atmosphere – which is objective and subjective, material and non-material, at the same time; something that you can breathe in and recognise it to be joy or peace or melancholy for instance, but not know what it is that you have drawn into your lungs. Ratan's use of light and shadow in theatre is unparalleled. He was able to create degrees of darkness on the stage – experienced as sometimes dense and sometimes diffuse with a precision that requires an exact understanding of the properties of lighting apparatus. At one moment the lights dimmed so low that you might see nothing but the glint of sequins on the potloi (the structured skirt worn by Manipuri dancers) as a group of performers glide across the stage; at another moment you might see a slash of light illuminate fingers wrists and upper arms flickering against the cyclorama – leaves, insects or distress signals from a drowning chorus? From the dark upstage you might see a tall, white fabric umbrella, held firmly by an actor, float downstage, to form a halo ─ marking a passage to the heavens? The tumultuous clang and flash of hand-held gongs deafen and blind the spectators as the chakravyuh gains the velocity of a tornado in a circle of red beams. And who can forget the often-cited image of an elephant materialising on stage as if in a dream, in his memorable production of Agyeya's Uttarapriyadarshi! These are stage effects that cause the heart to pound. Almost nobody understood the magic of the image in theatre better than Ratan Thiyam. And almost nobody used the proscenium arch theatre, also known as the picture-frame stage, better than him. The picture-frame stage, brought to India by the British to house their theatricals, has given rise to much debate. The proscenium, as we know, is the architectural frame that edges the opening of the stage. The major experiential convention it produces is a play of dark and light; the stage being illumined while the audience is in darkness is as much an emotional experience as it is material. What effect does such architectural framing have on traditional forms and their grammars? How does it change our viewing habits and our expectations? Ratan Thiyam's work, performed primarily in the proscenium, disturbs assumptions and generates a contradiction. Even when he remodelled traditional grammars, and reshaped gestures drawn from Manipuri martial arts and dance forms so as to align them with the enclosing edges of the frame, Ratan produced performances that have often been understood as, or even become synonymous with, Indian theatre. A description that we must inflect, gloss and interrogate by keeping his remodelling, his refashioning of form stance and music in mind. Ratan Thiyam's luminous stage work exceeds description; what stays in our memory is his love for the craft of theatre, and the beauty it can produce. It reminds us that meaning-making in theatre is not by word alone but by all the elements that make up the performance – from minutiae such as glinting sequins and flying tassels on costume, to the voluminosity of shadowed tableaus and grand battles choreographed to thunderous percussion that judder the very foundations of the auditorium. Our homage to Ratan Thiyam: the person who ignited the spell of material fiction that is theatre; the one whose aesthetic and pedagogical imagination enhanced the discourse of modern Indian theatre.


News18
4 days ago
- News18
Is Dibyendu Bhattacharya A Part Of Mirzapur The Film? Chakda Xpress Actor Reveals
Last Updated: Dibyendu Bhattacharya, known for Mirzapur 2 and Jamtara, told News18 Showsha whether he's a part of Mirzapur The Film. Actor Dibyendu Bhattacharya, widely loved for his impactful roles in series like Mirzapur 2 and Jamtara, opened up in a candid conversation about his career trajectory. In an exclusive conversation with News18 Showsha, the actor revealed whether he is a part of Mirzapur The Film, how actors seek validation through their work, and his deep desire to explore out-and-out commercial comedy on screen. When asked if he'd be a part of the upcoming Mirzapur movie adaptation starring Pankaj Tripathi, Divyenndu, and Ali Fazal, Dibyendu Bhattacharya confirmed his character is no longer part of the storyline. But would he consider a role in Mirzapur The Film if offered? He replied, ' [Spoiler alert] Yes, I was part of Mirzapur, but my character died in the show. I'd love to be a part of the movie, but nobody has spoken to me about it yet. So I guess that means I'm not in it," he said with a smile, making it clear the doors are open should the opportunity arise. Dibyendu reflects on not featuring in film/series posters Dibyendu has been a part of the film industry for over two decades now. Along the way, he has played pivotal characters, finally establishing his name in the film industry with projects such as Anushka Sharma's Chakda Xpress and YRF's Alpha starring Alia Bhatt and Sharvari. Despite playing significant roles, he doesn't always make it to the poster. We asked Dibyendu if it ever bothers him. 'We actors — what do we do? We play with feelings and emotions, so we're emotional too. We're human. So yes, of course, we feel bad sometimes. A little importance would've been nice, right? It's not like I came from nowhere. If they include me in the teaser or trailer, it feels good," he reflected. 'For actors, money and fame are byproducts. What truly keeps us going is a little validation — a compliment from someone, a message in the morning that says, 'You made my day with your performance.' That's what makes our day. We're vulnerable like that," he added. Dibyendu is manifesting a full-blown comedy role When the conversation turned to genres, Dibyendu Bhattacharya expressed his enthusiasm about doing comedy, especially something in the tone of cult classics like Hera Pheri. 'Absolutely", he exclaimed, adding, 'Comedy is in my roots." 'I've won Best Actor awards before I even joined the National School of Drama – and it was for a comedy play! I used to walk on stage and for 90 minutes I had only one job: to make people laugh," he said. The Poachers actor then fondly recalled an incident from his NSD repertory days, when his comedic flair on stage once disrupted an entire scene because the audience couldn't stop watching him despite the main characters delivering their dialogue. 'There was a play where my antics kept stealing the spotlight—even when others had dialogues. The director scolded me at first, saying, 'You can't do this. People get distracted. They miss the actual lines.' But eventually, he came around. He whispered to me, 'I know you'll do what you want anyway. Just don't ruin it,'" Divyenndu laughed. He also revealed that he did a completely comedic role in an Amazon show titled Main Monica – a project that, despite having little to no promotion, gave him a chance to flex his comedy chops. While fans love his intense, layered characters, Divyenndu is manifesting more opportunities in full-blown commercial comedy. 'Those who have seen me on stage know I've done hard-core comedy in theatre. Cinema just hasn't given me that chance yet," he said, leaving the door wide open for filmmakers looking for a sharp comic actor in the industry. view comments First Published: July 28, 2025, 14:38 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.