Veteran actress Sharmila Tagore started her career as a child, predominantly working in Bengali films. At the young age of 13, she starred in Satyajit Ray’s 1959 film Apur Sansar as a child bride and became very popular among the audience. In a recent interview, the actress said that while she received immense praise for her work in films, she didn’t give much heed to it as she had not fully comprehended her fame.
Talking to Quorum, Sharmila recalled being cast for Apar Sansar from her home. She said that Satyajit Ray took permission from Sharmila’s grandfather Kanakendranath Tagore to cast her in the film and after its release, she quickly became the “heartthrob of Bengal”.
Sharmila said, “Working in that film, and when that film was released, the kind of praise it received, just changed my life. I became the heartthrob of Bengal overnight at the age of 13. She added, “At that time, I didn’t even appreciate what was happening.”
However, Sharmila’s father Gitindranath Tagore maintained that she should not abandon her studies for acting in films. She mentioned that her father said, “Of course, there is no question of getting paid, and if you think she is making an ass of herself, please don’t take her.” Sharmila said, “I didn’t make an ass of myself.”
In the following year, Sharmila signed Satyajit Ray’s Devi. Sharmila holds that her performance in Devi is her career-best performance. However, she did not want to stay away from her friends for too long and thus, continued getting a college education. She said, “I didn’t really have the kind of life I was looking at. I wanted to do History Honours.”
However, her life did not remain the same as half her friends only wanted to speak about actors and the other half didn’t want to speak to her at all. Sharmila later ventured into Bollywood in the 1970s and gave a string of hit films throughout her career. After staying away from films for a while, she was last seen in the OTT film Gulmohar earlier this year.
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