Sharmila Tagore was undoubtedly one of the top actresses of her time. However, she once courted controversy when she posed in a bikini for the cover of a film magazine in the 1960s.
Recalling her then boyfriend Mansoor Ali Khan aka Tiger Pataudi’s reaction to the whole controversy, Sharmila said during that controversy, Tiger was travelling so she sent him a telegram telling him all about the controversy. Pataudi wrote back saying, ‘You must be looking very nice’. It was a huge support for her, Sharmila told Barkha Dutt in an interview.
The veteran actress also revealed that after her bikini shoot, director Shakti Samanta called her up and asked her to meet him. He was reportedly worried that the actress will now be slotted into the role of a vamp in films.
Further, Tagore added that she kept doing things that people didn’t understand. She also stated that there was a clear line drawn between heroine and vamps at the time. Helen, who played a lot of negative roles at that time, had all the liberty to wear whatever she wanted, but the heroines did not have that freedom.
On the work front, she will next be seen in an upcoming web series, ‘Gulmohar’ which also stars Manoj Bajpayee, Suraj Sharma, Amol Palekar and others. It will premiere on an OTT platform from March 3 onwards.
