Actors Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ananya Panday and independent photographer Ishika Mohan Motwane paid rich tributes to veteran British actor Maggie Smith who died on Friday.
The Oscar winner, best known for her performances in the popular "Harry Potter" franchise, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" films as well as TV series "Downton Abbey", passed away in a London hospital. She was 89.
Kareena shared a story on her Instagram page with the actor's picture. She wrote, "Forever in power." She also quoted Smith's dialogue as the Dowager Countess of Grantham in "Downton Abbey", writing "I am a woman dear. I can be as contrary as I choose." Ananya re-shared a post mentioning the actor's demise with a red heart emoticon.
In an Instagram post, Ishika remembered Smith from the time she photographed the actor, known to millions of "Harry Potter" fans as the sassy and kind Professor Minerva McGonagall, back in 2012 from the sets of "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" in Udaipur.
"Had the incredible fortune to be the official photographer for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel featuring a few legends and Dame Maggie Smith was one of them... I had seen her in The Harry Potter movies and the very brilliant Downton Abbey and was in awe of her craft which she performed as if effortless.
"I remember her being a firecracker on set; firm but humorous. She was such fun to photograph because she didn’t like being photographed, and that was a challenge for me whether I liked it or not (sic)" she wrote.
In the John Madden comedy drama, Smith played a British woman called Muriel Donnelly, a former housekeeper who decides to have a hip operation in India to avoid waiting times.
While filming, in the middle of a take, Ishika said Smith would look out for her if she heard the sound of her camera's shutter.
"I was petrified of being called out so I made it my mission to get my images in a way that wouldn’t bother her but still get the job done. I remember trying all sorts of ways to get the shot. From behind pillars and posts, from behind the grip guy, or behind the structure of the crane machine, or use the DOP as my shield- I’d pop my hand out from hiding, prep for the shot, and when she wasn’t aware or looking, I would take the shot," she recounted.
Smith, for all of her age, was so sharp, said Ishika.
"I could sense her whip her head around at the speed of light to attempt to find me, and when she couldn’t, it would nearly look like she was disappointed. I nearly felt like the hunted and she the hunter. She was a force to reckon with and it was lovely to have been able to watch her work and a privilege to photograph her." After they finished filming, the photographer said they joked around and she kindly thanked her for giving her space and complimented her on "being invisible".
"Possibly as a little thank you, she gifted me a signed copy of the Downton Abbey DVD which is one of treasures, and we hugged and said goodbye. Minerva Maggie forever. 1934-2024," Ishika ended her post.
Aditi Rao Hydari said she hopes the world will forever celebrate the life and brilliance of "an irreplaceable treasure" like Smith.
"What a dame what a lady and what a life," Sonam Kapoor wrote on her Instagram Stories.
"A legend forever," Parineeti Chopra said.
While her cause of death is unknown, throughout her 60-year career, Smith had been quite open about her health including diagnoses of breast cancer and Graves' disease.
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