Sharmila Tagore recently revisited one of the most defining and unconventional moments of her career during an appearance at We The Women. The veteran actress looked back at her iconic Filmfare bikini cover, an image that remains etched in the history of Indian pop culture.
While the cover sparked a nationwide conversation, Sharmila clarified that the decision to pose in a bikini was entirely her own, dismissing long-standing rumours that it was a calculated move for publicity. She shared during the session, “It was actually my idea. The photographer, Dheeraj Chawla, wanted to do a photoshoot, and I suggested, ‘Why not a bikini?’ It was entirely my decision, and I can’t put it on anybody else. I simply thought it would look nice.”
However, the public response to the cover was far from what she had expected. She described the subsequent outrage as unbelievable, mentioning that it was “almost like a ‘bikini bomb.'” Many people at the time assumed the choice was a cynical publicity stunt, a claim Sharmila firmly denied. She explained, “People assumed I had planned it as a publicity stunt to grab attention and achieve commercial success, but that was never my intention.”
The fallout even reached her professional circle. She recalled approaching filmmaker Shakti Samanta during the height of the controversy, feeling discouraged by the public reaction. She shared, “I remember going to Shakti Samanta feeling quite crestfallen. He gave me a long lecture about how actresses should behave if they wanted to be taken seriously. I listened to everything he said, but I didn’t really change anything.”
Despite the pressure, Sharmila remained firm in her perspective. While acknowledging the importance of timing in the industry, she said, “You learn from your mistakes, but I don’t regret doing it.” A vital source of comfort during that challenging time was her husband, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. She shared that she reached out to him via telegram while he was in London for cricket. His reaction provided the support she needed: “His reply was, ‘You must be looking nice.’ That meant a lot to me. He’s always been incredibly supportive, and when I look back at that cover today, I’m completely okay with it.”
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