‘KWK 8’: Sharmila Tagore On Facing Backlash Over Bikini Photo: Questions Were Asked In The Parliament

Saif Ali Khan and Sharmila Tagore, the mother-son duo, made an appearance together on the latest episode of ‘Koffee With Karan 8’. The episode was quite interesting as the two made several revelations, including the fact that Sharmila Tagore was diagnosed with cancer, and hence, she had to reject Karan Johar’s offer to star in ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’, which was helmed by Karan, and starred Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh in the lead roles. 

The veteran actress also divulged some personal details, and even talked about her famous cover shot in a bikini, which caused massive controversy back in the day.

Host Karan Johar, who knows how to get the celebs talking, asked Sharmila Tagore about her famous magazine cover shot in a bikini, and how it had become the talk of the town at the time. He asked the actress, “Your famous bikini shot... You know the shot I am talking about. Nobody else wanted it to happen. Even the photographer had some anxiety issues about doing that.”

Saif Ali Khan quickly chimed in and said, "People in my boarding school used to ask me, is that your mum? I was very proud of it."

Sharmila Tagore, meanwhile, said, , "Yes, the photographer was slightly worried and I just thought I looked very nice. It really hurt me later because everybody interpreted it in such a way that I was upwardly mobile, I was trying to catch eyeballs. I didn't feel like that. When it came out in Filmfare, I was in London and I was unaware till Shakti (Samanta, director) ji called me and said, will you come back quickly? There are terrible things happening here. He said if you want to be in the public eye, this is not the way to go."

Sharmila Tagore further affirmed when Karan Johar compared the reaction to her bikini shot to modern-day social media trolling. She said, “I can't tell you...I believe questions were asked in the Parliament. It was not pleasant for me. After that, I was very careful and I chose ‘Aradhana’. It was the ‘RRR’ of our time."

Sharmila Tagore was last seen in ‘Gulmohar’, which was also released on Disney+ Hotstar.