‘Was it a way to pay the rent?’ Sharmila Tagore talks about her first days in Bollywood

Veteran actress Sharmila Tagore is considered a living legend of Indian cinema. She was a leading lady and one of the highest paid actresses of the 1970s. Throughout her career, she has acted in many films with superstars like Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, and Jeetendra. She is known for her phenomenal acting skills and her on-screen chemistry with her co-stars. The actress made her return to the silver screen this year with her OTT release ‘Gulmohar’. While promoting the film earlier this year, Sharmila Tagore revealed that early in her career she had to work hard to pay her rent.

Sharmila Tagore spoke about her journey as an actress. In her interview, she said that Sharmila acted in the film for various reasons. Expressing her views, she said, “We have worked in films professionally, sometimes for money, sometimes just to pay the rent.” Sometimes I make movies because I think it would be good for him.”

Sharmila Tagore started acting at the age of 13. She made her debut with the critically acclaimed film Apur She Sansar, directed by legendary film director Satyajit She Ray. She made her debut in the Hindi film industry with the 1964 film Kashmir Ki Kali.

One of the most successful films of her career, released in 1969 and became a cult classic. The name of the film is ‘Aradhana’ and it was made under the direction of Shakti Samanta. The film starred Sharmila and Rajesh Khanna in the lead roles. Apart from Rajesh Khanna, actors like Farida Jalala, Sujit Kumar, Subhash Ghai and Ashok Kumar also played important roles in the film. The film made huge profits and collected Rs 17.85 billion at the box office. The film was highly acclaimed not only by the audience but also by the critics. Sharmila revealed in an interview that if the film had been released today, it would have grossed around Rs 900 crore and would have competed with RRR.