Sharmila Tagore is one of the most gorgeous actresses of her time. She made her debut with the film, Apur Sansar in 1959. Since then, she has been constantly ruling over millions of hearts with her mesmerising acting in numerous Bengali and Hindi films. For this, she also received a Filmfare Award, two National Film Awards, the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award and also the Padma Bhushan Award. Recently, the veteran actress made a comeback onscreen after 12 years of sabbatical with the 2023 film, Gulmohar, released on Disney+ Hotstar. Now, she opened up about wearing a bikini in the 60s, when it was a taboo and revealed her husband and in-laws' reactions to this.
Recently, Sharmila Tagore graced Twinkle Khanna’s chat show for the Tweak India channel, The Icons. During one segment of the show, Sharmila was asked about wearing a bikini for the shoot of one of her scenes in the 1962 film, An Evening in Paris and how it created an uproar across the country. To this, Sharmila mentioned that although it was a taboo at that time, the scene became an iconic one in her film career. She laughed while explaining how a ‘piece of clothing’ created so much controversy at that time and said:
“It became such a big thing. I cannot say I was forced or asked to do it as it was entirely my decision. The photographer was not quite approving either. We did it spontaneously, which later created a huge uproar. Also, there were a lot of things into it. I wanted to grab eyeballs, I wanted to be commercially more viable. But I thought I looked nice.”
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In the same conversation, Sharmila shared how her darling husband, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi supported her. Since he was in London at that time, he sent a telegram mentioning that his wife must look nice and need not worry. However, the veteran actress added that the incident went on to become a radical at that time. She then made a conscious decision to do films like Aradhana. She added:
“I realised that.. you cannot live in a world of your own. If you are a public figure, you must understand your audience, you must understand where you are. In front of the camera, you are emoting which is landing very well with the Indian audience, because these people accepted me. But this kind of radical thing will not go down well with the Indian audience. So why do it? Because you do not really want to shock people.”
Further, Sharmila was asked why the posters suddenly disappeared from Mumbai. To this, the actress immediately added that not from the entire film and mentioned how she asked her driver to remove the film posters from around her house when her mother-in-law, Sajida Sultan was visiting. Sharmila added:
“Because my mother-in-law was visiting me. We (Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and her) were not married then, just engaged. There was this huge poster with Shammi Kapoor standing, and behind it, was me. My mid-riff is covered because of his body, so my bare legs and arms are outside. It was quite a titillating poster. At night, my driver and bearer went and took it out. But there must be many other posters on the way which Amma saw.”
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However, Sharmila then opened up about how her mother-in-law must have seen many other posters around the city. Thus, when she was asked by Twinkle about her mother-in-law's reaction, the veteran actor chuckled, “She didn’t bother.”
What do you think about Sharmila's stunning revelations? Let us know!
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