Sharmila Tagore

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

See Tagore for disambiguation

Sharmila Tagore (Bengali: শর্মিলা ঠাকুর Shormila Ṭhakur) (also known as Ayesha Sultana, after marriage) is a renowned Indian film actress from Bengal, who as of April 2005 heads the Indian Film Censor Board. In December 2005 she was chosen as an UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador [1].

[edit] Background and family

Born in a Bengali Hindu / Brahmo family on 8 December 1946 in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, Sharmila Tagore is the daughter of Gitindranath Tagore, a distant relative of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Sharmila married Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Nawab of Pataudi after converting to Islam and took the new name of Begum Ayesha Sultana. They have three children: Saif Ali Khan (b. 1970), Saba Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan (b. 1978).

[edit] Work with Satyajit Ray

Smt. Sharmila Tagore inaugurating the Week-End Film Festival, ’50 Years of Pather Panchali – A Tribute to Satyajit Ray’ in the presence of the Minister of Information & Broadcasting and Culture, Shri S. Jaipal Reddy, in New Delhi on April 22, 2005. The Film Festival organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India)

Sharmila Tagore began her career as an actress in the 1959 Satyajit Ray film Apur Sansar (The World of Apu), as the ill-fated bride of the title character. As noted on the official website for Ray, "She was just a fourteen-year-old then, with no previous acting experience. As the shooting began, Ray had to shout instructions to Sharmila during the takes. None of this, however, is reflected on the screen. Ray cast her in his next film Devi too." [2]. She appeared in a number of Ray films, often co-starring with Soumitra Chatterjee.

[edit] Other work

Tagore established herself as a popular Hindi film actress with Shakti Samanta's Kashmir Ki Kali in 1964. Samanta would cast her in many more hit films such as An Evening in Paris (1967), and he would be responsible for famously teaming up her with Rajesh Khanna for Aradhana (1969), Amar Prem (1971), etc. Other directors paired them together in Daag (1973) and Safar (1970). She starred in Gulzar's 1975 film, Mausam, and she played a supporting role as heroine Sarita Choudary's mother in Mira Nair's 1991 film Mississippi Masala.

Her latest release is Vidhu Vinod Chopra film, Eklavya: The Royal Guard, brings together real life mother and son, Sharmila Tagore and Saif Ali Khan. They share screen space for the first time since Aashiq Awara (1993), where she had helped launch Saif as a leading man.

[edit] Awards

• 1969 - Filmfare Best Actress Award - Aradhana

• 1976 - National Film Award for Best Actress - Mausam

• 1997 - Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award

• 2003 - Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award

• 2004 - National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress - Abar Aranye

[edit] Select filmography

[edit] See also

• List of Indian film actresses

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Sharmila Tagore at the Internet Movie Database
• Biography from satyajitray.org
• Being Sharmila