SHARMILA TAGORE

BY ALI PETER JOHN

She always says she would never be an actress if she was not discovered by filmmaker Satyajit Ray who found talent in her when she was just fourteen years old and knew nothing about acting. Ray saw in her the perfect actress to play the young and ill-fated wife in his “Apur Sansar”. She remembers the booming voice of Ray shouting at her and even howling at her to bring out the best of the actress in her. “I don’t know what the great filmmaker saw in me and was not satisfied till he got what he wanted from me. I too was a very determined and stubborn girl and decided not to surrender or give up half way. I was in for a very pleasant surprise when the great man patted me on my back and I was in for a bigger surprise when he saw the entire film and predicted a very bright future for me” , Sharmila Tagore remembers. Ray reiterated his faith in her when he cast her as the leading lady again in “Devi” and then went on to make other important films with her like “Naayak,” “Aranyer Din Ratri” and “Seemabaddha”. He considered her good enough to be cast opposite legends of Bengali cinema like Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterjee. She was also cast by another contemporary of Ray, Tapan Sinha who found her ideal to play important roles in two of his films…

Sharmila could have stayed on and made it as a good and leading actress of Bengali films, but she wanted to move out and try and discover the world of Hindi films. And it was as if her wish was granted when Shakti Samanta, a leading filmmaker from Bombay who had made some very successful films in Hindi saw her in something special and asked her family if he could take her away to Bombay and make her the leading lady of a film he was planning with Shammi Kapoor in the lead. The family was reluctant but Sharmila showed the first signs of being a rebel when she went against the orders of her family and agreed to go with Shakti. After some initial training Shakti made her the heroine of his film “Kashmir Ki Kali”. The girl from Bengal was transformed into a ravishing beauty from Kashmir. The film with some very good music, the dances of Shammi and the new face of Sharmila went on to be a very big hit. Shakti had all the confidence in her and decided to go in for a complete change of image for Sharmila. This time he cast her as a very modern girl and the heroine of the same Shammi Kapoor in “An Evening in Paris”. She lived up to Shakti’s faith her and took the world by surprise when she did a complete song in a two piece bikini which no other heroine before her had done. The song showed Shammi hanging from a helicopter and singing out to her from a motor boat. The song and Sharmila in it created a sensation all over and specially in Bengal where she was respected as a discovery of Ray and belonged to a very traditional Hindu Brahmin family. The newspapers and magazines splashed her photographs in the bikini and raised all kinds of questions but Sharmila took it all in her stride. The film had established her as a glamour girl and the gossip magazines gave her a new title, La Tagore.

And what was expected happened. All the big filmmakers from Bombay wanted her and created scenes in which she could wear more daring clothes for any price she named. But Sharmila proved to be a very clever actress. She turned down almost all the offers. The only other film in which she appeared as a mod girl was in Yash Chopra’s “Waqt” in which she played a rich girl in love with her chauffeur played by Shashi Kapoor. She had nothing much to do in the film just like the other heroine, Sadhana who was the first Indian star to appear in a one piece swimming costume in “Budtameez” directed by Manmohan Desai with Shammi Kapoor again. Sadhana had some steamy scenes with Sunil Dutt, but she made her presence felt with her tight – fitting salwar kameezes which became a vogue among the young girls and is a craze even now in 2013.

That was the last time Sharmila appeared as a glam girl because what followed was one big change for her. A noted director like Hrishikesh Mukherjee discovered the sensitive actress in her and cast her in two of his sensitive films, “Anupama” and “Satyakam” and even a comedy like “Chhupke Chhupke”, with Dharmendra as her hero in all the three films. Another senior director who took her seriously was Mohan Segal who gave her a very challenging role in “Devar” again with Dharmendra. She continued playing other typical Hind film heroine roles……..

Shakti Samanta came into her life and career again, this time to do away with the image of the glam girl and replace it with a very different Sharmila Tagore. He first made her play both the lover and a mother in the same film, “Aradhana”. It was the film in which a struggling actor called Rajesh Khanna who was the hero at twelve noon on the day of the release and at three p.m the same day was a superstar and the rest is history. Sharmila however proved to be at her best and even won the Filmfare Award for the best actress. Sharmila and Rajesh did several other films together but were good again only in Shakti Samanta’s “Amar Prem” in which she played the courtesan with whom the rich young man from the city falls in love. Shakti was enamored by her and even cast her in two bilinguals in Hindi and Bengali, “Amaanush” and “Anand Ashram” with Uttam Kumar, “the god of Bengali cinema” who could not make any impact in Hindi films.

Sharmila however was at her best when she worked with Gulzar as her director. He cast her in the most difficult role of her career in his film “Mausam”. She played the beloved of Sanjeev Kumar and their lost daughter who year later is found by Sanjeev in a cheap den of prostitutes. It was her role as the bidi-smoking, foul-mouthed cheap prostitute that won for her the first national award for the best actress. She was also good in Gulzar’s “Namkeen” which had a number of talented actresses like Waheeda Rehman, Shabana Azmi and Kiran Vairale with Sanjeev Kumar as the only male character. She was outstanding, but the film was not.

She realized that time was passing by and she was ageing and agreed to play character roles and the roles of the mother. She was good in this second innings of her career and among the films she shone out in were films like “Dhadkan”, “Mann”, “Eklavya-the royal guard” in which she played the mother of her real life son, Saif Ali Khan, like she had played his mother in a film which gave him a second life, “Aasshiq Awara” and “Mississipi Masala” directed by Mira Nair. The last big film she did was “Virrudh” in which she played Amitabh’s wife and the mother of a son who is a victim of the underworld. And to prove that she can be good under any circumstances, she last did a Marathi film, “Samaantaar” directed by Amol Palekar. It has been a long journey for this actress who at seventy and a grandmother is willing to take up any challenge that comes her way and is waiting for opportunities to work with the directors of the new generation.

MORE ON SHARMILA TAGORE

Ø She was the great granddaughter of the poet Rabindranath Tagore but she never used his name to her advantage.

Ø She belonged to a family of scholars who were not interested in films but had to listen to a man like Satyajit Ray.

Ø She was a product of a convent school and even graduated from a college run by Christian nuns and was not even fluent with Bengali, her mother tongue, but as time passed she was at complete ease with languages like Urdu, Hindi and now even a little of Marathi.

Ø She has worked with all the top heroes, Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterajee from Bengal, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan and down to Amol Palekar

Ø At a time when her career was at its peak she got converted to Islam and took the name Ayesha Sultan and married the Captain of the then Indian Cricket team, the Nawab of Pataudi. They have three children, Saif Ali Khan, Saba and Soha Ali Khan.

Ø Sharmila had no special preferences when it came to her heroes. She was even willing even to do a film called “Asamapt Kavita” with Gulzar in the lead role but the film was not completed.

Ø Her biggest regret is “Devdas”, the version to be directed by Gulzar with Dharmendra as Devdas, Hema Malini as Chandramukhi and herself as Paro. The film was left incomplete.

Ø Her staff still remembers her as a boss who had done all kinds of good things for them and their families.

Ø She wanted to do some kind of social service and found the chance of a life time when she was appointed Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF, a term during which she did a lot of good work for the poor and the needy.

Ø She was appointed the Chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification and her decisions have come in for sharp reactions, both for and against. She has been very open when it comes to films based on problems of sex, homosexuality and lesbianism. There were lobbies working to get her out but all their efforts failed because followed the dictates of her own conscience and the code of conduct set by the Censor Board.

Ø She has won a number of lifetime achievement awards and the highest award of the Commander Of The Order Of Arts and Letters of France.

Ø She is the mother of Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan. Saif was married to actress, Amrita Singh and has towo children form her, Ibrahim and Sara Ali Khan who has recently made her debut as an actress in films like “Kedarnath” and “Simbba”. Saif divorced Amrita and married Karina Kapoor and they have a son, Taimur. Saif is also an independent producer. Soha Ali Khan is married to actor Kunal Khemu.