Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil wore Kanjeevaram sarees, walked up and down Cannes boulevard: ‘When someone looked at us, we asked them to watch Nishant’ | Bollywood News

Two of the finest actors Indian cinema has ever seen, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil, also joined forces many times, churning out iconic performances. Although they did not share a very cordial relationship, the two legendary thespians set screens afire whenever they appeared together in movies such as Nishant (1975), Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai (1980), Arth (1982), Mandi (1983) and Oonch Neech Beech (1989).
Interestingly, their Nishant, helmed film auteur Shyam Benegal, competed for the Palme d’Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, marking an iconic moment in Indian cinema hory. Renowned as the trailblazers, Shabana and Smita, along with Shyam, made heads turn at the venue of the iconic film festival too unapologetically being themselves. Recently, Shabana herself spoke about their time at the festival when they wore Kanjeevaram sarees to get the attention of people, hoping that this would help them improve the footfall for Nishant’s screening. She also recalled raising objections to the rule that women should wear heels while walking the red carpet.
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“We were supposed to get all our advertisement material, but it never came. In Cannes, it’s all about parties and big advertising. As we were wondering what to do, Shyam Benegal, being an advertising man, told Smita and me to wear our best Kanjeevaram sarees, along with bindis, and start walking up and down the boulevard from 9 am onwards. We did exactly that, and as soon as somebody turned to look at us, we would request them to come to our movie screening. With just that, we managed to get a houseful show,” she shared during a chat with Filmfare.
She also spoke about resing the ‘heels are mandatory’ rule at Cannes and shooting off a strongly worded letter to the organisers. “I was very offended because Cannes had this diktat saying women can’t be on the red carpet without heels. I wrote them a stinker asking, ‘Is this about films? As it is, you have sold your soul; now, what do you mean this (the rule concerning heels)?’ It’s my habit to point out if I spot something wrong,” she added.