At a time when filmmakers and audiences were still debating whether women were even allowed to have morally complex characters both in real life and on screen, Patil emerged with films such as 'Bhumika,' 'Bazaar,' 'Mandi,' 'Arth,’ ‘Umbartha’ ‘Mirch Masala’ et al.
Mirch Masala’s invocation of M K Gandhi celebrates independence from an external colonial state while also manufacturing consent for the modernising initiatives undertaken by the postcolonial state.