How Satyajit Ray guided a 14-year-old Sharmila Tagore into cinema

For many Hindi film lovers, Sharmila Tagore will forever be the woman in ‘Kashmir Ki Kali,’ ‘Aradhana,’ and ‘Amar Prem’: graceful, romantic, and effortlessly luminous. However, long before the actress became a mainstream star, Tagore’s journey into cinema began in a far more intimate space. It all started in Bengali cinema, under the watchful eye of one of India’s greatest filmmakers, Satyajit Ray, when she was barely in her teens.

Tagore was just 14 when Ray cast her in ‘Apur Sansar’ (1959), the final film in his acclaimed Apu Trilogy. At that age, she had no formal “exposure” to films, no understanding of the mechanics of acting, and little sense of the cinematic legacy she was stepping into. Looking back now, the actress recalls that the experience felt less intimidating than one might imagine, thanks largely to Ray’s gentle approach. Speaking to ANI, the veteran actor recalled her very first shot on set, a moment she says she still remembers clearly. “Oh my God, that’s going to take a long time. But it was wonderful. And I still remember it. So my first shot was entering the house and looking around. And of course, one doesn’t forget one’s first shot...” She credits the first Indian Oscar-winning director, whom she affectionately refers to as “Manik da,” for creating an environment where even a newcomer felt at ease. According to her, he never made actors feel that a scene was “difficult.” For a young girl stepping onto a film set for the first time, that reassurance made all the difference.  (ANI)

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