Veteran Bollywood actor Amol Palekar, who recently attended the Jaipur Literature Festival 2025, recalled an incident from the shoot of his 1977 film, Bhumika, in which he was forced to slap co-star Smita Patil. The film was directed by legendary filmmaker Shyam Benegal, and it was on his behest that Palekar had to slap Smita despite it being against his wishes.

At JLF, Palekar recalled how he never did a scene without rehearsing it with his co-stars. "I discuss each and everything with my co-artist and keep them in the loop about what exactly I am going to do, and I do not go beyond that," he said.

Recalling the infamous slap incident with Smita Patil, Palekar then said, "During the making of Bhumika, we were shooting a crucial scene but Shyam was not liking the results. He thought I was not violent enough. So just before the take, he called me aside and said, 'Amol, slap her'. I agreed to it and said that I will rehearse it with Smita. But Shyam denied. He asked me to slap her without telling her. I straightaway refused to do it, but then he said that it was an order."

He went on to say, "The whole shooting process started. I was confused, scared, and I didn't know whether I should slap Smita without telling her as it was against my grain. Smita started performing brilliantly as she always did, and at one point, I just held her hand and gave her a tight slap."

Amol then narrated what happened after he slapped Smita, and how her reaction moved him to tears. "The expression on her face was that of disbelief. She couldn't believe I would do something like that. Along with disbelief, it was also the anger and humiliation on her face, but both of us being good actors, we kept on performing as Shyam had still not said 'Cut!'."

"As soon as the shot was over, I went to her and apologised profusely. I started crying. I told her why I did what I did, and she hugged me and cried too," he added.

Palekar mentioned that he would not do such a thing today if he happened to face the same dilemma. "If it was today, I would not have done it. And it's not just because of the theatre discipline, but also because I do not believe in raising my voice and hand on a woman," he concluded.

Bhumika (1977) also starred Naseeruddin Shah, Amrish Puri and Anant Nag. Smita was lauded her for performance in the film, and it also received two National Film Awards that year.