You take to Smita Jayakar instantaneously. Hers is the benign face you equate with family. Sarfarosh, Mujhse Dosti Karoge, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani... her career boasts of blockbusters just as her eventful run on television. But nothing can beat the iconic status that her roles in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (HDDCS) and Devdas achieved. As Amrita, who understands the rebellion and heartbreak of her daughter in HDDCS and as the ill-fated Kaushalya, who witnesses the disintegration of her son in Devdas, she depicted both the strength and susceptibility of a mother.
Counted amongst filmdom’s most beautiful moms, her resemblance to veteran Moushumi Chatterjee unmistakable, Smita has a four-decade run behind her. But along the lustre of limelight runs her longstanding pursuit of spiritualpractices. Her journey first began with Master Prabhuji, who gifted her the healing technique of ‘auto-writing’ believed to connect people with departed souls. In addition to her time with Oneness University, she’s been with the MaitriBodh Parivaar, her present Master being global humanitarian Maitreya Dadashreeji. Reiki, pranic healing, past life regression, kundalini energy, aura reading, crystal healing... she has explored various spiritual therapies to give her clients a transformative experience. Her books including IF You Can Just BE, Before Tomorrow and In Everness... all are but efforts to further awareness.
For someone who walks the tightrope between the world as we know it and the ‘beyond’, Smita is no high priestess of renunciation. She prays hard but is also ‘party’ to enjoyharder. She’s aware of the shenanigans of showbiz but remains disengaged with the dazzle...Smita Jayakar on her two-track trail in her own words:
Mine was a normal childhood. I grew up in a middle-class Maharashtrian family (in Thakurdwar neighbourhood in South Mumbai). I had no special dreams or goals. I wasn’t overtly religious either. As a ritual, the elders in the family would ask us children to do ‘Namaskar’ to the gods before an exam orattending a special occasion.
Mohan Jaykar (son of esteemed Marathi barrister Barr Jaykar, Mohan is founder of Jayakar & Partners, a law firm in Mumbai) and I had a love marriage. We were blessed with two sons, Siddhartha (Jaykar, co-founder of Labyrinth Cinematic Solutions) and Archit Jaykar (reputed lawyer). I was around 26 when I took to the entertainment world. My first brush with television happened in the ’80s, when I compeered for Marathi shows Kille Vishwa Ek Salla and Kulchachi Payri on Doordarshan. By the end of the 13 episodes you became a star, a household name. I guess it was just about being at the right time and at the right place. Some of my notable shows on television include Aahvaan, Junoon, Ghutan, Noorjahan, Ghar Aaja Pardesi and Kashibai Bajirao Ballal (between 1988-2022). While some of my recent Marathi films are Nirbhaya, Bebhaan, Senior Citizen, Hawahawai and Dil Dosti Deewangi (between 2017-2023).
Films
My career in Hindi films kick-started with Subhash Ghai’s Pardes (1997) followed by Qila (1998). The graph changed dramatically after John Matthew Matthan’s Sarfarosh (1999)starring Aamir Khan. Be it ad films, television or films... I was inundated with work. It was crazy. But I enjoyed it. I had the support of my husband. We lived in a joint family for most part of our life. So the support was considerable where my two boys were concerned.
In the 14 years following Sarfarosh, my significant projects include Mast, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (HDDCS) Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, Astitva, Devdas Baabul, Ek Vivaah... Aisa Bhi, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, Sonali Cable... I’ve been fortunate to have worked with the best. I particularly respect Aamir Khan. People may call him ‘interfering’. But I don’t agree. If he corrects you or has suggestions, it’s good for the film and for everyone else. Why make an ego issue out of it? In Sarfarosh there’s a scene where a seriously injured ACP Ajay Singh Rathod (played by Aamir) wants to track the culprits. As his mother, my character is distraught. She has already lost one son before. I keep saying, “Main nahin jaane doongi!” But my husband (played by Akash Khurana) puts a tilak on his forehead and does his aarti as a gesture of granting consent. Before we shot, Aamir told me, “This is your scene.”What he meant was, ‘go all out’. For a character actor like me, this was a rare opportunity. Usually, actors feel insecure. But he’s magnanimous. Aamir didn’t demand ki mera close-up bhilo. Even the angle of the camera was such that he wasn’t so noticeable.
Like all his films Aamir’s recent production Sitaare Zameen Pe (director R.S. Prasanna) has a message. The intellectually challenged children are the heroes of the film. Aamir’s films are not self-centric. They’re not about Aamir Khan. Even in Lagaan (2001) all the11 characters that form the cricket teamplus the foreigners... each one is so memorable.
Shah Rukh Khan is extremely sincere towards his work. Hewill pour his life into the film. But according to me he’s a director’s actor. He needs a director to draw out the best in him. He was superb in Chak De! India (2007), Swades(2004)... Salman Khan is naughty, he’s a brat. But he has a sensitive side. If during shooting, any of the backgrounddancers happened to make a mistake and were called out for that, he’d go up to them and reassure them saying, ‘It’s okay. Such things happen. Let it pass’. He has a kind heart. Also, all the three Khans do a lot of charity, which they don’t talk about.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Though I’ve enjoyed doing every film, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s HDDCS (1999) and Devdas (2002) are milestones.Sanjay brings out the best in you. He explained the ‘jhoola’ scene in detail to Aishwarya (Rai Bachchan) and me. It was an emotionally complex scene where as an anxious mother I ask Aishwarya’s Nandini how far she has gone in her relationship with Sameer (Salman). Her retort is, ‘Ussne meri aatma ko chua hai (he has touched my soul)!’ I’m concerned about the physical aspect while she’s referring to the emotional. We’re both on different tracks. Sanjay asked us to ‘improvise’ the scene. He involves his actors. Ditto for the scene when I visit newlywed Nandini in her sasural and on finding her sad and sullen, I beg her not to hold on to her past.
Like Aamir, Sanjay’s a perfectionist. That’s why he gets upseteven if there’s a minute mistake. Look at his films, every frame is like a picture postcard. If an actor doesn’t recognisewhere the director is coming from, he or she’s bound to get frustrated. But if you understand why he’s putting so much effort, you’ll appreciate him.
Sanjay is like Yash Chopraji. He makes his women look beautiful. He got me a collection of sarees during both HDDCS and Devdas and asked me to choose the ones I liked. No filmmaker has done this for me. We shot the Dheel de de re bhaiya song (HDDCS) over a period of 10 days. One day he looked at me and told my make-up artiste right away, “Her lipstick colour has changed. Her blush is a bit too much. Get it fixed.” Such sharp observation! He takes such interest in every character. So why shouldn’t I not take interest in my character? He’s God for me in films.
I was playing Aishwarya’s mother in HDDCS. So we were together all the time. She’s beautiful even without make-up. Anyone would get mesmerised. And because of their real-life romance (referring to Salman-Aishwarya), there was a twinkle in their eyes, which worked so well for the film. It was the first time that a song – Aankhon ki gustakhiyaan – was shot without lip sync.
Sanjay is spiritual and we’d often have discussions on spirituality. He presented me the book Conversations With God (by Neale Donald Walsch). I recently met him at the Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar premiere. Though my hair is now all grey he said, ‘Smita, you look even more beautiful now!’ He’s always been kind and affectionate.
Spiritual Track
There’s been no trigger, no tragedy in my life, which made me sigh and say, ‘What’s this life!’ and veer towards spirituality. I visited my first master, the late Prabhuji, with my husband. He taught me about religion, about spirituality. He sowed the seed of awareness in me. Before that I just existed. Auto-writing (a technique used to help people communicate with their deceased) was the boon that Prabhuji gave me. After that, I associated with various spiritual organisations. Sri Amma and Sri Bhagwan (founders of Oneness University, Chennai) have been my spiritual teachers. Later, I discovered a new spiritual path with Maitreya Dadashreeji, the founder of MaitriBodh Parivaar, an organisation which focuses on transforming humanity. I’ve been with them since 14 years.
Whilst teaching auto-writing, I first take people through meditation so that they can connect to the other world. Auto-writing heals souls and the people connected to them. They get closure. People from America, London, Mexico, Australia... have availed of this online course.
We’ve been through many unusual experiences during auto-writing. Once during consultation when I connected to a soul, I could smell fish. When I mentioned this to the client, he said that the departed ‘soul’ loved fish. On another instance, a man wanted to connect with his late mother. While doing so, I felt the presence of a divine energy. On telling him this, he said that his mother was an ardent devotee of Swami Vivekanand.
I invoke my masters and ask them to protect me before I begin the process of healing. I can sense the energies of people I come across in daily life. But I shut ‘my antennas’ before stepping out or else I won’t be able to lead a normal life. I want to watch movies. I want to shop. I want to party... I don’t want to get into the zone of a guru. I simply guide people. Even if I can sense that certain incidents may occur in someone’s life, I don’t tell them that. It would scare them. I can sense dark energies and entities in a person. But I don’t let them know because they may not believe me. They can call it paise kamane ka dhanda. But for me this is a sacred job. I live a normal life like anyone else. But my inner state is different.I don’t get attached to anything.
Forgive 'em
The most difficult thing is to forgive someone. If forgiveness happens from within, you’re free. Kuch halka halka sa lagta hai. The equation of that relationship changes. There’s no pain, no suffering. You don’t have to be friends again with that person or go hug him/her. But hatred should no longer exist. There are times when a person is on his death bed or on a ventilator and yet not passing on. I tell the family members to tell him ‘we have forgiven you, please forgive us too’. Once they do that, the person passes away within a day or so.
My peers from the industry have not come to me for consultation. But the younger actors do. Basically, actors are emotional people. They put on masks for every role. Most of the time they’re not in touch with themselves. The pressure to succeed is too much. They can’t handle their lives. They tend to get into wrong relationships, bad habits, alcohol abuse... Sometimes they have entities within them. If you have a weak aura, you tend to attract them.
Spirituality works as an anchor. My mantra is ‘don’t over-think’. If a project doesn’t go through it’s okay. If a film doesn’t do well, it’s okay. If you give in to your insecurities, you’ll tail off. You need to have a plan B. You can’t put alleggs in one basket. Celebrities/actors needn’t come to me in case they fear sharing their private lives. They can go elsewhere and seek help. We need to develop spiritual strength. That can only happen if you look inwards and have conversations with the self. Sadly, for most the focus is the outer world. If that collapses, they collapse too. We need to wake up!
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