Sharmila Tagore Says People Don’t Let Her Forget Her 1996 Bikini Shoot! (Photo Credit – Sharmila Tagore/Filmfare /Wikimedia)
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Sharmila Tagore was an unconventional diva of her time. From marrying an Indian cricketer to doing a bikini shoot – there was nothing ever done before in Bollywood. But the latter part, it grabbed the retired actress a lot of backlash. The veteran beauty is now opening about the controversial photoshoot and the response she received!
For the unversed, back in 1966, Sharmila did a photo shoot for Filmfare magazine. The picture witnessed her in a black and white bikini. She was probably the first-ever actress to go that revealing in front of the cameras. Such that, even the photographer asked her if she was sure about it!
In a conversation with Film Companion, Sharmila Tagore recalled, “My life choices, looking back, have been unconventional. Like the bikini shot for Filmfare, that people don’t ever let me forget.”
As per reports, it was Sharmila Tagore herself who suggested the idea of wearing a bikini. Talking about it in an old conversation with Filmfare, the actress said, “Oh! God, how conservative our society was back then! I’ve no idea why I did that shoot. It was just before I got married. I remember when I showed the two-piece bikini to the photographer, he asked me, ‘Are you sure about this?’ In some of the shots, he even asked me to cover my body. He was more worried than I was but I had no qualms doing that shoot. Only when people started reacting strongly to the cover, was I taken aback. I was puzzled as to why they didn’t like the picture. I thought I looked nice. Some called it a deliberate move to grab eyeballs; others termed me as ‘astutely uncanny’. I hated that. Maybe, there was an exhibitionist in me, as I was young and excited to do something different.”
It is rumoured that Sharmila Tagore will be seen on daughter-in-law Kareena Kapoor Khan hosted What Women Want soon!
