When Smita Patil was pregnant with Raj Babbar's child but refused to take maternity leave: 'She shot for film by hiding her baby bump'

Smita Patil had married Raj Babbar in 1983 and he was already married to Nadira Zaheer at that point in time. He had married Nadira in 1975 and already had two children with her - Juhi and Arya Babbar. But he fell in love with Smita on the sets of 'Bheegi Palkein'. He left Nadira and started staying with Smita. Later, when Smita was pregnant with Raj's child, she decided to not take a maternity break and continued working.
On the occasion of Smita Patil's 37th death anniversary, a senior from the film industry sat for a candid conversation with the ETimes and shared this anecdote about the actress. This senior had said that Smita had just announced her pregnancy before the shoot of the song 'Super Dancer' in the film 'Dance Dance'. He said, "B.Subhash agreed, and 'Super Dancer' was shot with her radiant face, reflecting the charm of motherhood. My very dear friend Jagdish Aurangabadkar was the PRO of the film and I attended the shooting of 'Dance Dance' several times, and she would always greet Jagdish in chaste Marathi.”
Smita passed away very early at the age of 31. It was just after 15 days of giving birth to her son Prateik. As per reports, Smita had already expressed her last wish and that was to be cremated as a 'suhaagan' (married woman). Tus, she was dressed as a bride for her last rites.
Meanwhile, Smita's son Prateik Babbar has now added her surname 'Patil'. He recently got married but chose to not invite his father Raj Babbar and step-siblings Arya and Juhi for it. One had thought that all's well between Prateik and his father, and siblings. As Prateik was often seen at every function at their house, including Juhi's son's birthday party. But his decision to not invite his father for his wedding left everyone shocked.
Prateik's wife Priya Banerjee had reacted to not inviting Raj Babbar for the wedding. She had said, "There is nothing to change. There was never anything there. So, I'm confused when people comment, ‘You did this to somebody’. But no, that family was never there, that person (hinting at Raj Babbar) was never there in his life. So, I'm not sure why that question is coming up now, 30 years later."