Sharmila Tagore comments on actors charging high fees & competing over vanity vans, says, “I’m concerned”

Actress Sharmila Tagore is a timeless beauty and the diva proves it everytime she makes an appearance. She has worked in multiple Bengali-language films before she stepped into Bollywood with Shakti Samanta’s Kashmir Ki Kali in 1964. In an exclusive interaction with SCREEN recently, Sharmila reflects on entourage culture debate and actors paying attention to vanity size. She also shares her thoughts on award function in today’s time and how there is lack of integrity.

Sharmila Tagore on entourage

The veteran actress expresses concern over rising star fees. She mentions, “I am concerned about how actors are not just charging huge amounts, but many even travel with cooks, masseuse, and an entire entourage. I was doing an ad film, and the person who did my makeup revealed that today, there are actors who have a competition about the size of their vanity vans.”

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Sharmila Tagore continued, “Vanity vans were all about privacy, and a comfortable place to dress up. Now, you have meeting rooms, resting rooms, etc… All of this is pushing actors away from what actually matters… the acting.” She 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.”

Before Sharmila, filmmakers like Karan Johar, Farah Khan, Anurag Kashyap also talked about star’s rising fees which create an additional burden on the producers.

On award functions

Sharmila Tagore also expressed her concern over lack of camaraderie between today’s stars. She said, “When I won an award for Aradhana, Nargisji and Waheeda Rahmanji were there in the audience. Kishore Kumar sang on the stage. It was a celebration of the film fraternity, and not just a celebration of Sharmila Tagore. But now, in many award shows, some turn up very late, and a new row is added to the first row to accommodate the A-listers, and more importantly, no one talks to anyone. Everybody waits for a photo-op and leaves, and many don’t even turn up if they are not getting an award. Things have changed a lot, but I don’t think for the better,” the veteran actress said.

Workwise, Sharmila is set to return to the big screen with Outhouse, a heartwarming movie that will release in theatres on December 20.

Also Read: Sharmila Tagore admits she was an ‘absent’ mother to Saif Ali Khan for 6 years