57 Years Later, Sharmila Tagore Says ‘Questions Were Asked in Parliament’ Over Her Bikini Photoshoot

Sharmila Tagore recalled the time when she basehd left, right and centre for doing the first-ever bikini photoshoot by an actor in Bollywood. She appeared on Koffee With Karan season 8 with her son, Saif Ali Khan.

Mumbai: Sharmila Tagore appeared in her first-ever joint interview with her son Saif Ali Khan. The two graced the latest episode of Koffee With Karan and discussed everything under the sun – from their family dynamics to Saif’s childhood and the famous bikini photoshoot that made headlines in the 60s. The veteran actor had shot for Filmfare in the year 1966. The magazine featured her posing in a pink swimsuit and a black polka-dotted bikini. Sharmila went down memory lane on KWK and pondered over everything that happened after that photoshoot came out.

When Karan Johar asked Sharmila about how even the photographer seemed anxious while shooting her in a bikini, she agreed. The actor revealed that she thought it would look nice and people were ready to accept that. However, she said it did the exact opposite.

Sharmila Tagore reveals even the photographer was worried during her bikini photoshoot

“Nobody else wanted it to happen. Even the photographer had some anxiety issues about doing that,” said Karan and Sharmila replied, “Yes, the photographer was slightly worried and I just thought I looked very nice. What hurt me was everybody trying to put it in a way that I was up early mobile, I was doing it to catch eyeballs. I didn’t feel like that. I just did it and thought it would look very nice (sic).”

Sharmila Tagore says people thought she did it for ‘eyeballs’

The actor added that the hell broke loose and she started getting calls about what she had done. Sharmila said she was in London when she got a call from director Shakti Samantha (with whom she had frequently done movies) who told her it was not the right thing to do as a public person. “When it came to Filmfare, I was in London and I was unaware till Shakti ji (Samantha) called me and said ‘can you come here quickly, terrible things are happening here’. He said ‘if you want to be in the public eye, this is not the way to do’. I used to live alone and I was very upset with all this (criticism) which is completely opposite of what I thought would happen. I sent a telegram to Tiger (Mansoor Ali Khan Paaudi) and he said ‘I am sure you are looking very nice)’ and that was my support,” she narrated.

Saif added to the conversation and mentioned how he was at a boarding school at that time and had boys asking if she was really his mother. “People in the boarding school used to ask me ‘Is that your mom?'” he said.

Karan highlighted how the whole incident was almost like people trolling Sharmila for a choice that she made. “In many ways, you perhaps experienced trolling first – a version of trolling which is what happens on social media these days,” he said. The veteran actor agreed and said, “Totally. I can’t tell you the extent. I believe there were questions asked in the parliament and it wasn’t pleasant for me. But, I learnt from that. After that, I chose Aaradhana and it was the RRR of our times (sic).”

Sharmila married cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan in 1968, two years after that photoshoot was released. Her resume of work boasts successful and progressive films like Aradhana (1969) and Amar Prem (1972) which talk about the individuality of a woman beyond being someone’s wife or mother. In Aradhana, she played the role of a courtesan who gets rejected by society but builds her own life. In Amar Prem, she is a single mother who marries a man secretly and decides to keep his child even when she knows the world will always think she had him out of wedlock. In Koffee With Karan, she appeared as gracefully as her fans have known her for ages.