‘Actors Are Moving Away From Reality’: Sharmila Tagore On Today’s Film Industry

Sharmila Tagore is an Indian legend known for her work in Hindi and Bengali cinema. She was seen as an actress debuting in Satyajit Ray’s Apur Sansar in 1959, going on to become famous with Aradhana and Amar Prem. Recently, she showed her concern upon the change of dynamics around the vanity vans and how this was displacing the performers from the real world.

The veteran actor said, “I am worried that actors are not just demanding huge money but many of them even travel with cooks, masseuse, and an entire entourage…I was doing an ad film, and this girl who did my make-up told me that today there are actors who have competition as to how big their vanities are.” She said, “Vanity vans used to be all about privacy, a comfortable place to get ready. Now you’ve got meeting rooms, resting rooms, etc. All this is driving actors away from what matters…the acting.” She further added, “Of course, making money is important, but if you are moving away from reality, how would you know what works and doesn’t with the audience.”

Sharmila Tagore said that the present-day stars are lacking in camaraderie. Reminiscing about the Aradhana award, she said that it was a time when the entire film fraternity celebrated, and icons like Nargis and Waheeda Rahman were present. Today, she said, the stars come late, attend for photo-ops, and leave early, and most of them do not turn up if they are not going to win an award. She feels that the changes haven’t been for the better.

Earlier, directors like Karan Johar, Farah Khan, and Anurag Kashyap discussed how rising star fees are putting more pressure on producers.