Filmmaker Shakti Samanta
knew that Satyajit Ray's Devi had to be transformed into a '60s diva if
she was to make a career in Bollywood. The first step was a makeover for
his protege Sharmila Tagore -- string cholis, chic chignons and maybe a
swimsuit, the director suggested. And his An Evening in Paris heroine,
who had glammed up in the three years since she made her debut in Hindi
films with his Kashmir Ki Kali was up for it. So much so, that she
suggested she would wear a bikini!
But Samanta, realising how
conservative our censors were and not wanting to go through the
nightmare of a re-shoot, knowing he could never match the colour of the
Mediterranean Sea in India or ferry French extras over without going
over-budget, insisted on a demure blue single-piece swimsuit. "Sharmila
wasn't very happy, but she gave in to my wishes. I'm glad I was prudent,
because even then the song was clipped out during a screening on
Doordarshan," Samanta had revealed in the course of an interview, adding
that when he had questioned a DD official on the subject, he was told
that the song was "vulgar". "The answer silenced me. Imagine a film that
was passed in '67 with a U certificate being considered "vulgar" almost
four decades later!" he said.
Sharmila eventually got her way during a Filmfare shoot. She graced the cover of the magazine in a bikini and shocked the conservatives at the time. But the swimsuit/bikini made her one of the hottest Bollywood actresses of her time and it remained a talking point down the decades.
Apart from Sharmila's
swimsuit, Samanta's '67 hit is unforgettable for Shankar-Jaikishen's
evergreen score. Ashim Shamanta, the son of the filmmaker, remembers how
Shammi Kapoor had agreed to hang from a helicopter during the
picturisation of the chartbuster, Aasmaan se aaya farishta, confident
that Samanta would never get a chopper on hire. But he did get one, in
Beruit, and Shammi got the hotel bar opened so he could fortify himself
with a large peg of cognac before reporting for the shoot.
"Once the chopper's propellers started whirring and it ascended to the skies with Shammi uncle clinging on, the unit realised that their hero couldn't hear the song above the din. So, dad took it upon himself to sing the lines. Reading his lips Shammi uncle, who knew the Rafi saab number by heart, lip synced the words perfectly and mimed the action," says Ashim.
He recalls that during the shooting of another song, Raat ke humsafar, Shammi and Sharmila had a slight misunderstanding. "They were not on talking terms. But no one could have guessed that watching them on screen. However, the real romancing was happening off the sets," Ashim reveals. "Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi fractured his finger in England and was ruled out of a couple of Tests. Taking advantage of his forced break, he flew down to Paris to serenade Sharmilaji. And it was an evening in Paris for real for the much-in-love couple."
Sharmila eventually got her way during a Filmfare shoot. She graced the cover of the magazine in a bikini and shocked the conservatives at the time. But the swimsuit/bikini made her one of the hottest Bollywood actresses of her time and it remained a talking point down the decades.
"Once the chopper's propellers started whirring and it ascended to the skies with Shammi uncle clinging on, the unit realised that their hero couldn't hear the song above the din. So, dad took it upon himself to sing the lines. Reading his lips Shammi uncle, who knew the Rafi saab number by heart, lip synced the words perfectly and mimed the action," says Ashim.
He recalls that during the shooting of another song, Raat ke humsafar, Shammi and Sharmila had a slight misunderstanding. "They were not on talking terms. But no one could have guessed that watching them on screen. However, the real romancing was happening off the sets," Ashim reveals. "Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi fractured his finger in England and was ruled out of a couple of Tests. Taking advantage of his forced break, he flew down to Paris to serenade Sharmilaji. And it was an evening in Paris for real for the much-in-love couple."
