An Interview I did, from 2007

As the title states, this is an interview I did with Sharmila Tagore in 2007. She is a well known Bollywood actress; as is her son Saif Ali Khan and daughter Soha Ali Khan. Sharmila was then the head of the Censorship Board of India, and conincidentally happens to be my grand-aunt. As a journalism student it was a pleasure to be able to interview and write a piece on her. 

Being Sharmila Tagore

Sharmila Tagore, who has been described as an “undeniable Bengali tigress” (Santabanta.com), has been a prominent actress of Bollywood for over 40 years. Not only has proven that she is capable of a classy show case on screen, but also that the nurturing of Indian cinema takes place off screen. As Chairperson of the Censor Board of India, and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for India since 2005, she has definitely made her mark in the movie industry.

She started her career when Satyajit Ray was searching for a child bride for the last of his trilogy “The World of Apu” (Apu Sansar). At the tender age of 14 she was discovered by a scout, and her father gave her permission to act in the movie. She comments, “By that time Satyajit Ray was a household name. And even though girls from respectable families did not go to act in films, he was looked up to and admired; therefore my father had no objections.”

Tagore spent the former years of her life growing up in Kanpur, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in India. She had to leave the school she was attending, “because they felt that if I was acting I films it would reflect badly on the other students”. She consequently joint one of the “Loreto Schools” branches, but due to the nature of her father’s job, was continuously subjected to moving. She finished school and did about three months at college, but by that time she was a recognised face as well as the movie she had worked in, therefore she continued to undertake her career in acting. Although her stepping stone was in Bengali films, she felt it would be a natural extension to move from regional cinema to national cinema. In 1963 she moved to Hindi films with “Kashmir Ki Kali”.

At the age of 63, Tagore, realises that many a things have changed in the film industry, and that the people need someone who has experience and understanding of the nature of the Indian society, to monitor what can and cannot be shown in cinemas across the country. “The industry has had to become more liberal, because we are competing with other films in the market. India is a country of paradox so we have to be eternally vigilant. I always try to follow the middle path really, and not to rock the boat too much, but at the same time be liberal and go forward”, says Tagore as she reclines on her bed in an apartment in London, wearing her tracksuit bottoms and a sweater.

A writer on nnn-infonet.com commented “that the meeting between Hollywood and India is a two-way process: Western audiences are becoming more interested in India, as evidenced by the mild success of “Lagaan’ and “Bride and Prejudice”. On the other hand it is also become apparent that Hollywood is taking a few traits of the Indian cinema. As appeared in “The Globalist” “Aneven greater U.S. audience was exposed to the Bollywood sensibility by Australian director Baz Luhrman’s film, Moulin Rouge.” The sudden singing in the middle of a scene and the enigmatic dance routines definitely spell Bollywood. Tagore has a strong

opinion on the exchange of cultures within the movie industry and the spread of the Indian cultures outside of India. She says that although the exchange is very good, in her opinion “Omar Sharif” is the only person eminent enough to have made that transition. From an Asian perspective there is Jackie Chan, but his films are centred on the martial arts, which are globally recognised. On the other hand though, there is the prominent factor that the younger generations are better exposed and that is resulting in a slow and active movement of cultures sieving through societies around the globe. In this context Tagore expresses that “younger generations are better exposed… they’re becoming more globalised citizens of the world, so maybe they will take this on”.

Having grown up in a modern household and having continues exposure to the western world, Tagore not only has been admired by many, but has admired as well. She claims that although there may be no set parallels between Bollywood and Hollywood, she still has her mind set on classic actors such as Judi Dench and Katherine Hepburn, as semi-comparable personalities. But with a slight tone of remorse in her voice she claims that, “Whilst the matured person still continues to get roles in Hollywood, in India the roles for older female actresses dry up.” It was her “modern” upbringing that exposed her to famous artists such as Marcello Mastroianni and Federico Fellini. Nevertheless it was still a bit surprising when she mentioned that Jane Fonda and Shirey McLain where amongst her main influences.

Sharmila Tagorehas emerged as a world class actress in many film genres. She has acted in classics such as Rajesh Khanna’s “Aradhana” (1969), “Amar Prem” (1971) as well as modern day “Hindi-English” films such as Mira Nair’s ( also director of “Bend it like Beckham”) “Mississippi Masala”- a film she says she loved doing, as it was about the Indian Diaspora.

She mentions that whilst the core of movies in Bollywood have not changed, modern day cinema reveals that the “money is in place”. Tagore sees the future of Bollywood as being very bright. She feels that the market is getting more flexible and is accommodating different kinds of films all the time. No longer are the directors following a particular kind of formula, which has brought about a clear demarcation of urban and rural movies in India. English is now being used as a medium of conversation in nearly every movie. Nevertheless, it is still felt that “a male star is the man who films up the essence”. “Like oceans 13 we all went to see because of George Clooney and “Pirates of the Caribbean” because of Johnny Depp.”

Whilst the change in Bollywood is slowly drawing on large crowds of spectators from all over the world, Hollywood continues to soak up elements in from other industries, but a complete transition is probably never going to happen. As Richard Byrne rightly comments “ Whether it be the Italian “spaghetti Western” or the stylized violence of Hong Kong thrillers, the U.S. film industry has had an uncanny knack for taking the world’s cinematic styles and moulding them. With the recent Bollywood invasion, can the day be too far off when people around the world see a singing dancing love story come from Hollywood – and not Bombay.”

Read more: http://newsflavor.com/entertainment/an-interview-with-sharmila-tagore/#ixzz2t1OpAFnL