Sharmila Tagore: The Doe-eyed ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’

Sharmila Tagore is one of the most glamorous divas of Indian cinema. With her trademark dimpled cheek, amazing bone structure, and wonderful figure, she created sensation in Bollywood. Her career spans the art films of Satyajit Ray, Bollywood extravaganzas, classic social dramas and parallel cinema. Sharmila’s supreme achievement lies in her triumphantly criss-crossing image boundaries. She is a versatile actress who consistently explored roles beyond the stereotypical to get out of the straitjacket of being just a pretty appendage to the hero. The characters she portrayed came alive on screen through her sparkling eyes and with modulation of her voice. So, for every ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’ and ‘An Evening in Paris’; there is ‘Apur Sansar’, ‘Devi’, ‘Anupama’, ‘Satyakam’, ‘Safar’, ‘Mausam, ‘Aavishkar’, ‘Dooriyan’ and many more. Her sizzling acts on-screen created ripples in the filmdom. With her heavily made-up eyes, dimples and thick plaited hair, she fits into the typical damsel-in-distress trope. From being Bengal’s most ogled export who stirred up both the hormones of a generation as well as a hornet’s nest, she has often referred to herself as Ray’s student. She is also a style maker, her butterfly knot blouse, her makeup style, long eyelashes and her curvy dresses all became a fashion statement.

Sharmila Tagore was born to Gitindranath Tagore and Ira Barua on December 8, 1944 in Hyderabad. She is great-great-grandniece of Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore. Her father was a general manager in the British India Corporation. She had two sisters Oindrila, an actress/costume designer and Romila. She was just 13, studying in St. John’s Diocesan Bengali medium school Kolkata, when Satyajit Ray looking for a young lass to play the role of a pre-teen bride in his film ‘Apur Sansar’, approached her father after watching her dance recital at Children's Little Theatre (CLT) Kolkata. She was in frocks, looking younger than the requirement, but Ray saw something in her eyes. She was selected to play ‘Aparna’; a pleasant transformation from a frock-wearing girl to a sari-clad bride. But her school principal objected to her acting in films. Sharmila had to leave the school. She was then admitted to Loreto Convent School, Asansol. In the college also, her principal wanted her to choose either films or academics. She didn’t relent, threw her books and left the college dramatically.

Sharmila Tagore gave star-making performance as the child bride ‘Aparna’ in President’s Gold Medal winner “Apur Sansar” (1959). There was no looking back thereafter. Her piercing gaze mounted a lucid argument against the fanaticism and superstition in comparatively baroque and melodramatic movie ‘Devi’ (1960). After cutting her teeth in Bengali cinema with Satyajit Ray, she ventured into the glitzy Bollywood, bagging plenty of glamorous roles. However, she continued to be at beck and call of her mentor Satyajit Ray.

From her genteel background, she debuted as Shammi Kapoor’s peaches and cream heroine in Shakti Samanta’s breezy musical Kashmir Ki Kali (1964), matching steps with Shammi to ‘Deewana Hua Badal’. Then she appeared in flicks like Waqt, Dakghar, Anupama, Devar, Sawan Ki Ghata and Ye Raat Phir Na Aayegi etc. She repackaged her persona and caused a catalysmic shake-up by becoming the first Bollywood heroine to pose in a bikini for a glossy Filmfare magazine. Her two-piece swimsuit in ‘An Evening in Paris’ (1967) grabbed the maximum eyeballs, creating waves that even hit the Parliament. She portended an era of high gloss and glamour, giving sex appeal a modern definition. The film had a bouquet of songs like ‘Raat Ke Humsafar’ and of course Sharmila going ‘Ja, Ja, Ja’ to Shammi’s angel descending from the sky. Sharmila exuded a stylized ‘come on’ that dragged Hindi cinema screaming. She repeated the Bikini act in ‘Aamne Saamne’ (1967).

Sharmila tried to change her image in the wake of intense criticism, however, her boyfriend Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi stood by her. She put in a nuanced performance in Satyakam (1969), in which she plays the perfect foil to Satyakam’s impossibly virtuous character. The other movies of this period included Humsaya, Mere Humdam Mere Dost, Yakeen, Pyasi Sham, Talash, Suhana Safar and My Love. Luckily for her, Aradhana (1969) which charted the growth of her character from a young girl to an old lady changed the cartography of her career. Majority of her sequences including ‘Mere Sapnon Ki Rani’ were shot indoors later because she was busy with Satyajit Ray’s “Aranyer Din Ratri”. She gave a delicately layered performance and erotic “Roop Tera Mastana” literally scorched the screen with her sensuousness. But in the midst of the histrionic hosannas, Sharmila characteristically chose to take off to give birth to her son Saif Ali.

Not long afterwards, she returned to the studios, showing off an incredibly tiny waist. She expertly juggled her steam queen image with soul-in-the-eyes histrionics in a series of hits. One of the most popular pair of tinsel town, Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore set the screen on fire with their excellent chemistry. They gave six box office blockbusters (Aradhana, Amar Prem, Avishkaar, Safar, Daag, Choti Bahu) and three critically acclaimed films (Maalik, Tyaag and Raja Rani). In Safar (1970), she plays a woman who is best friend and companion to her classmate (Rajesh Khanna) as well as her husband (Feroz Khan). When both men leave her (one dies of cancer, the other commits suicide), she fights back, completes her education and becomes a successful surgeon.

Her twin turn as two variedly different prostitutes in Amar Prem (1972) and Mausam (1975), defined the transition in the portrayal of the fallen woman. Sharmila as Kajli, the foul-mouthed prostitute, delivered a no-holds-barred performance devoid of all artifice in ‘Mausam’. But she conveyed more pathos as the moist-eyed, mostly-mute courtesan of ‘Amar Prem’ whose amazing eyes were the broken windows to her soul. In Aavishkar (1974), Sharmila and Rajesh Khanna displayed their most nuanced act as a bickering couple. Hrishikesh Mukherjee explored her comic timing in Chupke Chupke (1975). In Amanush, her superlative performance is commendable, although at times, she looks too polished for what is essentially a village belle. In Dooriyan (1979), besides shining in a role tailor-made for her urban sensibilities, she looks stunning as the career-oriented woman.

In Griha Pravesh (1981), she gave a mature and sensitive performance. In Namkeen (1982), she gave an endearing performance as one of the daughters in an all-female household who grows close to the truck-driver-turned-tenant (Sanjeev Kumar). After easing out of films in the 1980s, Sharmila did only the occasional character roles in films like Sunny, New Delhi Times, Mississippi Masala, Mann, Shubho Mahurat. Viruddh...Family Comes First, Fool and Final, Antaheen, Eklavya: The Royal Guard and Break Ke Baad etc.

Just like the strong female protagonists of Rabindra Nath Tagore’s literary world, Sharmila turned out to be a fiercely independent woman. She sometimes ruined her roles with her stubbornness. She insisted on retaining her stylish bouffant for her lead role in Anupama (1966) much against the director’s wishes. She displayed the same chutzpah in her personal life.

At the zenith of her stardom, she met her price charming, cricketer Nawab of Pataudi at an after-match party in Delhi. His nawabi family didn't think highly of the acting profession and her prosaic Bengali family hadn't heard many good things about the 'indulgent' lifestyle of the Pataudis. But nothing was going to stop the love-birds. Reminiscing on their affair, she recounted they used to telegram each other those days and during Pataudi's Australia trip she talked more to the operator than him as the calls would go through London. She set a unique condition asking him to hit a hat-trick of sixes in a match before walking down the aisle with Pataudi. “An Evening in Paris” is special for Sharmila because it’s woven with her love-life. During the Paris shoot, on Bastille Day, Tiger Pataudi proposed to her and just before the cabaret ‘Zubi Zubi’ they got engaged. They married on 27 December 1969, in a dreamy wedding and are blessed with three children Saif Ali Khan, Soha Ali Khan and Saba Ali Khan.

Rarely, two altogether different careers of a married couple have run parallel beautifully as theirs. Sharmila continued to headline productions and play romantic roles unlike some of her peers, who had to postpone matrimony until their careers had peaked and plateaued. The fairy-tale of Pataudi-Sharmila romance added to her aura as a star. In fact, some of her greatest hits ‘Aradhana’ and ‘Amar Prem’ all came after the birth of her son Saif Ali. They embraced their differences, united their individual progressive minds and were bound in love for 42 years, till of course the death of Tiger Pataudi in 2011.

During her illustrious career spanning more than five decades, Sharmila has appeared in about 110 films and won many accolades including two National Film Awards and Filmfare awards. In 2012, she was conferred Padma Bhushan. She also served as the Chairperson of the Censor Board between 2004 and 2011. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts by the Edinburgh Napier University for her outstanding contribution to Indian cinema. In 1999, the Government of France honoured her by making her an Officer de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2005, she was nominated as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador . 

The dazzle of her profession runs parallel to the glamour of her personal life. Sharmila is a classic beauty, fiercely gorgeous and an epitome of elegance. The most iconic beauty look of Sharmila is the lined lash line. She had sported matt nude lips decades ago and rocked the brow game with panache. She had dark and defined high arched brows that made her features stand out. Hair pulled back in a bouffant was her signature hairstyle. Even in retirement, a nifty-at-fifty Sharmila remains one of India’s leading exponents of style. She endorses products in prestigious advertisements that reflect an elitist lifestyle. An inspiring icon, Sharmila continues to sprinkle her charm even today.