Once at the helm of stardom,Sharmila Tagore may have retreated into the solace of family life,but every now and then,she does return to recreate her aura on screen. This time around,its Nagesh Kukunoors 8X10 Tasveer that has brought her back. Tagore,or Begum Pataudi,chooses her words carefully. Ive admired Nageshs work I really liked his Dor and Iqbal. His stories are simple yet told interestingly and his efforts are sincere, says the veteran actress,And I cant be expected to have a full-fledged career; Ive had my innings and now I like to do things at my own pace. Tagore does accept that shes doing more regional cinema than mainstream. Having recently concluded friend Amol Palekars Samantar and released Anirudhha Roy Choudharys Antaheen,shes now taking a break. Bengali films offer more scope in terms of characters and roles,which seems limited in the Hindi film industry for someone my age. But Tasveer is different. The film,a paranormal thriller,has Tagore play mother to Akshay Kumars character,Jai,who has the power to find out the past of a person by touching their photograph. The 63-year-old actress believes that certain powers and occurrences are beyond explanation but insists nothing like this would ever scare her. I dont fear ghosts but I believe in angels. There are times when certain mishaps are averted and I truly believe thats because the spirits of my loved ones are somewhere here. About Kumar,she says that it upsets her to see how people malign him. Akshay is a wonderful boy. Hes extremely hard-working. I think people cooked up stories about Tasveer especially because there were inevitable delays in the schedule. Tagore is renowned as the apogee of elegance; but shes also known for her candour she is still remembered as much for her sensitive portrayal of a child bride in Satyajit Rays Apu Sansaar as is for being the first actress to have donned a swimsuit for a photo shoot which was partly the reason for her having been chosen as the chairperson of the Censorship Board. Times are changing and the industry has had to become more liberal, she says of her official role. But India is a country of paradoxes. And we have to be eternally vigilant we cannot afford to offend any party. I always try to follow the middle path,and not to rock the boat too much,but at the same time be liberal and go forward.
