Sharmila Tagore was recently a guest at a session organised by Young Leaders Forum, where the evergreen actor spoke about her family legacy, being a star now vs then and why the Hindi film songs of today don’t fascinate her. Excerpts from the session that was moderated by Arihant Parakh, the chairperson of ICC Young Leaders Forum.
FAMILY TIES
The legacy of the Tagores is no longer a family responsibility... it has gone beyond that to a more global commitment. There are celebrations worldwide for Rabindranath Tagore. It’s a family title I carry with pride.We are very privileged to be part of that family. I never met him... he passed away in 1941 and I was born in ’44. I come from the painters side of the family. My grandfather Gaganendranath Tagore brought cubism to India. His brother Abanindranath Tagore was the principal artist and creator of the Indian Society of Oriental Art and a major proponent of Swadeshi values. His paintings are at the Louvre (in Paris).
Even the women of the Tagore family were very prolific. The way we wear the sari now was made popular by Jnanadanandini Devi. She was a very forward-thinking woman. She went to England alone with her two children, she was a prime example of a woman who had a mind of her own. She broke away from a joint family and established the notion of a nuclear set-up. The Tagore family was a very cultured family and Rabindranath Tagore was its north star.
Private vs public life
I don’t think one needs to find a balance, you just have to be yourself. I am not on social media, but I do understand why the stars of today are on it. As far as interacting with people is concerned, I like talking to those who are aware of what’s happening in the world. I think one needs to know where to draw a line. A fan will quite obviously not follow you inside your home!
If you seek them out, if you are courting publicity, then that’s a different thing. But if you talk to them and yet keep yourself away, then that’s fine. Once upon a time, actors would be mobbed because people didn’t see us anywhere except in our films. Or maybe when we went to a premiere or a shooting... that’s when we would be actually mobbed. But then people now see actors here and there and every day on social media where they share what they are eating and their exercise routine and all that.
Language lost
I just feel that we are fast losing the beauty of the lyrics in Hindi film songs. I am sure that even many of the younger generations still listen to songs from the ’60s... such a beautiful combination of Urdu and Hindustani, which was really expressive and pleasing and sweet. Gulzar saab, Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri wrote words which were so beautiful and yet so easy to speak. Now people want music to dance to, they don’t want to listen so much.
I just did an ad with Sara (Ali Khan, granddaughter) and there was a line in it which went: ‘Aapke baalon ka strength ka raaz kya hain?’ ‘Mazbooti ka raaz kya hain?’ would have been so much easier to say. There is so much zabardasti se angrezi in so many things today. We are all multilingual but when it comes to performance, I feel it’s better to speak in one’s own language than English. Most of today’s lyrics, honestly, don’t make much sense to me.
On the sidelines of the session, Sharmila Tagore chatted with t2
When you come to Calcutta now, are you more relaxed since it’s mostly not for work? Do you find a lot more time to chill?
I love coming to Calcutta. I have a lot of good friends here. Although my parents are no longer there, I still like coming here. I just love the food here, especially street food. On this trip, I have been told that Malai Toast is a must-have... is that the craze now?
It’s been around for a long time....
Okay, I am behind then (laughs).
What’s the focus of this trip?
This time I have come here for Sourendro-Soumyajit’s function where they are paying their respect to Rabindranath Tagore. It’s such a pleasure to work with them because they do their work with so much enthusiasm and they are so polite and affectionate. I have known them for years and years. And then I was kindly invited for this session (with Young Leaders Forum) and I was told that there would be young people in the audience. So I thought, why not?
Do you like looking back and sharing stories of your life and career with the audience of today?
I have always remained engaged with life and if someone is interested in my life and wants to know about it, I love to share. Interaction and conversation is something I prefer to giving a speech.
Is there a question about yourself that you haven’t been asked in a very long time?
Usually, the hackneyed question is: ‘You started out so young. What was that like?’ In how many ways can one answer that question differently? (Smiles) One can’t really give different answers to a factual thing... you can’t make up stories about it.
But honestly, in almost every interaction, there will be something new that comes up, which makes it interesting. Generations are changing, people in different places are thinking differently... and often there are some interesting questions that give me pause and make me think.
You are not on social media. But one does get a glimpse of you on your family’s social media pages anyway....
I have never thought about being on social media and I don’t have the time for it. It’s a distraction for me, I feel. I like working, not necessarily only acting, but in other fields like social causes.
Sharing my life with the world through social media has never really interested me. I am not looking for more exposure, so to speak (smiles). But my children take these very candid pictures in which they make sure that they are looking very nice and they don’t bother as to how I am looking... and the next thing I know, friends call me and say they saw me on social media. So I have to have a legal contract with my children that they can’t just post any pictures of mine (laughs).
Has working in Gulmohar earlier this year interested you in more acting projects?
Definitely, if a script like that comes up. I have also acted in a movie called Outhouse with Mohan Agashe, Sonali Kulkarni, a child and a dog. Like Gulmohar, that is also a story about ageing and yet continuing to have agency in one’s life and having one’s rules. Ageing is not necessarily decline and something negative. It’s a time to look back and I feel it has a lot of positivity because one is trying to reflect, trying to think, trying to collate.We need to look at ageing in a different way and Gulmohar gave me that opportunity and so does Outhouse. Both are about an elderly person living alone but not feeling deprived in any way. In fact, they celebrate being on their own. In Gulmohar, she (her character Kusum) says she is going away and the family wonders how she will manage on her own. They think ki iss umar mein inko adventure chahiye.
That outlook about ageing has to change. Of course, you need young people’s support but you don’t need them to hover around you all the time. They shouldn’t curb your agency, they should empower you. You should have the agency to make your own decisions and live on your own terms, and the family must love you and support you.