Sharmila Tagore

Early life and background

Sharmila Tagore was born on 8 December 1944 in Cawnpore (now Kanpur), United Provinces to Gitindranath Tagore, a general manager in the British India Corporation, and his wife Ira Tagore (née Barua). As a member of the aristocratic Bengali Hindu Tagore family, she is related to the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, actress Devika Rani and the painter Abanindranath Tagore. Her mother was of Assamese descent and hailed from the Barua family. Gitindranath was the grandson of the noted painter Gaganendranath Tagore, whose own father Gunendranath had been a first cousin of the laureate. In fact, Tagore is more closely related to Rabindranath Tagore through her mother: her maternal grandmother, Latika Barua (née Tagore), was the granddaughter of Rabindranath Tagore's brother, Dwijendranath Tagore. Her parents were fourth-cousins. Tagore's maternal grandfather (husband of Latika Barua née Tagore) was Jnanadabhiram Barua, an Assamese Freedom Fighter and Writer who was the First Principal of Earl Law College in Guwahati (now known as Government Law College), himself the son of the noted social worker Gunabhiram Barua.

Tagore was the eldest of three daughters and had two younger sisters, the late Oindrila Kunda and Romila Sen. Oindrila was the first in the family to act, and appeared in Tapan Sinha's Kabuliwala (1957) as a child. She later became an international bridge player.

Tagore attended St. John's Diocesan Girls' Higher Secondary School and Loreto Convent, Asansol. She made her film debut when she was a 13-year-old schoolgirl, after which her studies lost priority. Within a short while, her attendance and performance at school suffered, she came to be regarded as a bad influence on her classmates, and was faced with a choice of either doing films or studying further. At that point, her father advised her to move ahead in life, commit herself to a film career and 'give it her all' in order to become successful.

Career

Beginnings and Cinematic Emergence (1958–1968)

Tagore began her career as an actress in Satyajit Ray's Bengali epic drama Apur Sansar (1959), as an ill-fated bride. In 1960, Ray cast her again in Devi, a film set in 1860 on Hindu orthodoxy and rational reforms, which she considers her favourite film and performance. She went onto appear in Bengali films Shes Anko and Nirjan Saikate, winning the IFFI Best Actor Award (Female) for the latter, alongside Chhaya Devi, Ruma Guha Thakurta, Renuka Devi and Bharati Devi.

Tagore made her Hindi film debut with Shakti Samanta's musical romance Kashmir Ki Kali (1964) alongside Shammi Kapoor. She and Samanta collaborated on several of his later films, including the romantic thriller An Evening in Paris (1967) again opposite Kapoor. With the film, she became the first Indian actress to appear in a swimsuit, which established Tagore as a sex symbol in Hindi films. While the scene in the film is often referred to as 'the bikini scene', Tagore's swimwear is actually a one piece. However, she did pose in a bikini for the cover of Filmfare magazine in 1966. But, when she was the chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification 36 years later, she expressed concerns about the increased use of bikinis in Indian films.

Tagore went on to appear in films such as Waqt (1965) opposite Shashi Kapoor, Anupama (1966) opposite Dharmendra, Devar (1966) opposite Dharmendra, Sawan Ki Ghata (1966) opposite Manoj Kumar, Aamne Saamne (1967) opposite Shashi Kapoor, Mere Hamdam Mere Dost (1968) opposite Dharmendra and the Bengali film Nayak (1966) opposite Uttam Kumar. Her performance in Anupama proved to be her breakthrough in Hindi cinema.

Commercial success and stardom (1969–1979)

The 1970s marked the most successful period of Tagore's career with a string of critical and commercial successes. She worked alongside Rajesh Khanna on several films including Aradhana (1969), Safar (1970), Chhoti Bahu (1971), Amar Prem (1971), Raja Rani (1973), Daag (1973) and Avishkaar (1974), Maalik (1972). She won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Aradhana, and was nominated for Safar, Amar Prem and Daag. She was paired opposite Dharmendra in Satyakam (1969),Yakeen (1969), Chupke Chupke (1975), and Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka (1975).

Tagore teamed up again with Shashi Kapoor for Suhana Safar (1970), Aa Gale Lag Jaa (1973), and Paap Aur Punya (1974). She also paired with Amitabh Bachchan in Faraar (1975) and Besharam (1978).

In Gulzar's Mausam (1975), Tagore starred alongside Sanjeev Kumar, earning earned her first National Film Award for Best Actress, and her fifth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. During this time, she also worked with Uttam Kumar in Amanush (1975), Anand Ashram (1977) and Dooriyaan (1979).

Tagore's other films during this period included Ek Se Badhkar Ek (1976), Tyaag (1977), which she also co-produced, and the Malayalam film Chuvanna Chirakukal (1978) among others.

Further success and sporadic work (1980–2010)

In the 1980s, Tagore appeared in Kalankini Kankabati (1981), Namkeen (1982), New Delhi Times (1986) and Swati (1986). She reunited with Dharmendra in the film Sunny (1984), which also featured Dharmendra's son Sunny Deol in the lead role. Her performance in the film earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Tagore starred in the Bengali action film Protidan (1983) opposite Naseeruddin Shah, and Mira Nair's interracial romantic drama Mississippi Masala (1991). She also appeared in supporting roles in Ghar Bazar (1998) and Mann (1999). She also appeared in two television shows, Katha Sagar (1986) for DD National and Zindagi (1999) for Star Plus.

Tagore was cast in her son Saif Ali Khan in his debut film Aashik Awara (1993) and the action drama Eklavya: The Royal Guard (2007). She appeared in supporting roles in the musical romantic drama Dhadkan (2000) and Abar Aranye (2003), the latter of which earned her the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also received critical acclaim for her performance in Shubho Mahurat (2003).

Tagore appeared in family dramaVirruddh... Family Comes First (2005) alongside Bachchan, earning her sixth nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

From 2007 to 2009, Tagore appeared in films such as Fool & Final (2007), Tasveer 810* (2009), Antaheen (2009) and the Marathi film Samaantar (2009). In 2009, she served on the jury at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. She played a supporting role in the romantic comedy-drama Break Ke Baad (2010) before embarking on an acting hiatus.

Return to Cinema and acclaimed performances (2023 to Present)

Tagore made her comeback after a 13-year hiatus with the drama Gulmohar (2023), which released on Disney+ Hotstar. The film earned her critical acclaim, with the Hindustan Times noting that, "The elegance and poise Tagore exudes are remarkable. Her dialogue delivery, gestures, body language, emotions, everything looks just so effortless even after a long hiatus." India Today also opined that, "Tagore is always a joy to watch on screen. And, what a comeback!" Her performance earned her the Filmfare OTT Award for Best Actress Critics – Web Original Film, in addition to a nomination for Best Actress – Web Original Film.

In 2024, Tagore returned to Marathi films with Outhouse alongside Mohan Agashe, where she played a loving grandmother. Devesh Sharma of Filmfare noted, "Tagore brings warmth, wisdom, and a spark of curiosity to Aadima, portraying her as a nuanced blend of strength and vulnerability." Tagore made her comeback to Bengali films after 14 years with Suman Ghosh's Puratawn (2025).

Personal life

Tagore converted to Islam, changed her name to Begum Ayesha Sultana, and married Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, the titular Nawab of Pataudi and Bhopal and former captain of the Indian cricket team, on 27 December 1968. They had three children: Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan (b. 1970); Saba Ali Khan (b. 1976), a jewellery designer; and Soha Ali Khan (b. 1978), a Bollywood actress and TV personality. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi died at age 70 on 22 September 2011.

From 1991 to 2004, Saif was married to actress Amrita Singh. They have two children, daughter Sara Ali Khan (b. 1995) and son Ibrahim Ali Khan (b. 2001), both actors. His second marriage is to actress Kareena Kapoor in 2012 with whom he has two sons, Taimur Ali Khan (b. 2016) and Jeh Ali Khan (b. 2021). Soha married actor Kunal Khemu in 2015, and has a daughter Inaaya Naumi Khemmu (b. 2017).

Public image and legacy

Tagore was the highest paid Indian actress in the 1970s, and is considered an accomplished Indian cinema veteran. Surendra Kumar of The Sunday Guardian considers her to be an actress "ahead of her time" for balancing "the serious persona of realist Bengali films, and the Bollywood persona of films with song-and-dance sequences focused on success at the box office." She has received widespread critical acclaim for her on-screen work, both nationally and internationally. During the introduction of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival screening of Aranyer Din Ratri, American filmmaker Wes Anderson recalled watching the film 25 years years ago "in a very strangely translated, blurry, scratchy, pirated DVD from a little Bollywood shop in New Jersey." He described Tagore's performance in Aranyer Din Ratri as "mysterious, cerebral, mesmerising."

Unlike most of her contemporaries in the 1960s, Tagore struck a convenient balance playing both glamorous and homely women on screen. She "explored roles beyond the stereotypical" in an era where women were rarely offered an opportunity to be more than "just a pretty appendage to the hero." Her wide range of complex female characters often circumvented the damsel in distress tropes, defying Indian societal norms and capturing a version of womanhood that is flawed but purposeful. According to Nandini Balial of Roger Ebert, she "redefined what an Indian woman could do in a film," and "altered the cinematic landscape for leading ladies." Balial goes on to say that Tagore's women epitomised that "being demure didn't mean being spineless, [and that] emotional devastation wasn't a death sentence." Filmfare considered her portrayal of a foul-mouthed shrew-ish sex-worker in Mausam as one of the most iconic Bollywood performances.

Bucking the Indian film industry's expectations from actresses, Tagore wore a one-piece swimsuit for her 1967 film An Evening In Paris. She was the first Bollywood actress to have done so, paving the way for Dimple Kapadia in Bobby (1973), Zeenat Aman in Qurbani (1980), and Parveen Babi in Yeh Nazdeekiyan (1982). Her 1969 Filmfare magazine cover, where Tagore poses in a two-piece bikini, was publicly labelled as "obscene" and "attention-seeking." She said her An Evening In Paris director Shakti Samanta called her after the magazine hit the stands and said,"If you want to be in the public eye, this is not the way to go." He also asked Tagore, who was in London at the time, to return to India immediately. Tagore was "really hurt" by the cover being interpreted as her trying to "be upwardly mobile" and "catch eyeballs." In a televised interview with Karan Johar, she confirmed that "questions were asked in the [Indian] Parliament" following the controversy, and she strategically chose the wife-mother role in Aradhana as her next on-screen appearance.

With her voluminous hairdos and chiffon floral-print sarees, Tagore's sense of fashion seamlessly blended traditional elegance with modern glamour. Numerous Indian actresses have gone to emulate her retro-vintage style in recent times, including Anushka Sharma for Bombay Velvet, Preity Zinta for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, and Deepika Padukone in Om Shanti Om. Film historian Sanjay Mukhopadhyay said that her "most significant contribution to Indian cinema is a sense of dignity and grace—after Waheeda Rehman, she was the only actress of her time who exuded this." Mukhopadhyay adds that with a "strong Tagore lineage coupled with the Pataudi gharana (family dynasty)" she was a "bourgeois star with a biography" who "occupied a cultural space beyond the reach of commoner—she could be looked at, but not possessed."

Tagore was inducted into the Bollywood Walk of Fame at Bandra Bandstand, Mumbai.

Filmography

Films

Television

Music video

Accolades

Civilian awards

Film awards

Honorary awards

References

References

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