Smita achieved more in a short career span of 11 years than many accomplish in their entire lives. She was an alumnus of the prestigious Films and Television Institute of India, and started her career as a Doordarshan newsreader. At a time when women in cinema were restricted to ornamental roles, she played characters that were working hard and running households. Case in point, Bindu in Manthan, who was the feisty leader of a local women's movement. At the age of 21, Smita won her first national award for her powerful performance in Bhumika. She donated the money she received after winning the national awards for Bhumika and Chakra to different organizations working for women's empowerment. When she wasn't doing films, she was fighting for causes she believed in, providing financial support to women's organizations, and becoming the face of the growing feminist movement in the country. In 1978, she stunned everyone in Mirch Masala, which is considered to be her most powerful performance. It's one of Indian cinema's most feminist films till date.
It's films like these that make us wonder what Indian cinema would have looked like, had Smita been around to guide it. But, she left the world at the young age of 31, due to complications during childbirth.