Sharmila Tagore on returning to films: Not looking to work just for the heck of it as that part of me is over

It’s after 11 years that actor Sharmila Tagore is all set to be in front of the camera, infusing life to a story, but she doesn’t want to describe it as her comeback vehicle. Because she never quit.

“I am not coming back anywhere. It is just that I worked on a film, which I thoroughly enjoyed. That’s it. I have my own life. At one point, that was what I was doing. I was an actor every day, I was going for shoots every day. That was my life then, Slowly, I petered down. And then I wasn’t working for a very long time,” Tagore says, adding that she led a different life away from the arclight, including her work associated with UNICEF, and her trust.

She was last seen in Break Ke Baad in 2010. Breaking her 11-year hiatus, she will be seen in Gulmohar alongside Manoj Bajpayee, Amol Palekar, Suraj Sharma and Simran Rishi Bagga.

Opening up about the film, the 75-year-old shares, “I liked the script, and they were going to shoot it in Delhi, which was a wonderful thing because I live in Delhi. I didn’t have to take a commercial flight as I was a little nervous about it due to COVID. It worked out very conveniently for me”.

For a long time her grandkids have seen her in the real life role of a grandma, and now, they will watch her bring a character alive onscreen. And the thought gets her excited and even chuckles a bit.

“Ohh, I got a lovely message from Inaaya already congratulating me, of course prompted by her mother. I told her the film is not out yet, and we don’t know what the audience will say. Taimur and Jeh aren’t allowed to watch films right now, but I assume it will be different when they watch me onscreen. And Sara and Ibrahim are grown up, they will watch, and they better like it. They don’t have an option but to say ‘well done’,” she says with a hearty laugh.

When it comes to her, getting back on set was like a perfect holiday. In fact, the Kashmir Ki Kali actor felt like a newcomer on set, bringing her own perception to the role.

“It was fun to work on a film with no pressure at all. It was something different from my life now. It was liberating, more like a wonderful holiday. That’s also because it is not my life anymore. My life right now is completely different. I’m not a working person anymore. I’m not going every day like everybody else to work, from one film to another,” she says, adding, “I worked in the film and now, I have gone back to my own life”.

Does it mean we will now see more of her onscreen? The answer is a bit tricky rather than a simple yes and no.

“It depends on the script, also there are a lot of other things which I still want to do in my life. I haven’t travelled in the past three years, I want to do that. I have wonderful grandchildren, with whom I want to spend my time with. I have got the responsibility of Pataudi palace,” says the actor.

However, it is not a complete no, as she puts, “If I get something which I haven’t done, which is not stereotypical role. I would be interested in it”.

“But not just for the heck of acting, or heck of just working in a film because that part of me is over now,” concludes Tagore.