Latest news with #CannesClassic
India.com
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India.com
‘Simi Garewal got a bungalow, I got a watchman's room…'; This actress was forced to live in 44 degree heat, sacrificed everything for director, she is…
Veteran actors Sharmila Tagore and Simi Garewal were once considered sensation in Bollywood. These beauties of the 70-80 era showed their glamour at the 78th Cannes Film Festival these days. Do you know the duo became a part of the Cannes Film Festival? The reason behind this is the 1970 film 'Aranyer Din Ratri', which was screened in the Cannes Classic section of the Cannes Film Festival. Sharmila Tagore and Simi Garewal attended the event, which was hosted by renowned filmmaker Wes Anderson. The screening of the film brought back old memories for the stars. Talking about the film, Sharmila shared an unheard anecdote from the shooting. During her early days when Sharmila Tagore was shooting for 'Aradhana; alongside Rajesh Khanna, she had a call with Satyajit Ray. Recalling her conversation with him, the veteran actress told The Hollywood Reporter India, He said, 'Will you work in my film? I need a month of your time, in the month of May.' Without thinking, I said yes. Then when I hung up, I said, 'Oh my God, I have committed to Shakti Samanta because he was making 'Meri Sapno Ki Rani' in May.' She further recalled, 'Rajesh Khanna was very busy because he had won a talent contest and had made commitments to 12 producers. So he had to give dates to everyone and they were all making a film. His dates were very precious. I said, 'Shakti ji, I have to do this film. Somehow I negotiated and came to Satyajit Ray and then went back to another film.' Sharmila Tagore, who made her acting debut with Satyajit Ray's 'Apur Sansar' (The World of Apu), could not say no to the filmmaker. The actress told that I always looked at him with a little respect, like you do to your father.' The 80-year-old actress said, 'When we were shooting for the film, we were all staying in different places because there was a lack of space. Simi Garewal, Kaberi Bose stayed in a bungalow in the neighboring village. Satyajit Ray and Soumitra Chatterjee stayed in a different place. I, Samit Bhanja, Subhendu Chatterjee, Rabi Ghosh stayed in another place. I stayed in the watchman's room. There was a water cooler there. It was very hot at that time. You can't even imagine how hot it was. We would shoot only from 5:30 am to 9 am and from 3 pm to 6 pm in the evening. The rest of the time we were just bonding. We became good friends. It was a very difficult place.' Sharmila also explained the reason why the filmmaker chose the month of May. She said, 'He wanted that time. He wanted a special look and it was possible only in May because the rains would come soon after and before that everything would be green.'
Indian Express
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Sharmila Tagore stayed in a chowkidar's room while Simi Garewal got a bungalow during the shoot of Satyajit Ray's Aranyer Din Ratri: ‘You cannot imagine how hot it was'
After being methodically restored over six years, filmmaker Satyajit Ray's 1970 film Aranyer Din Ratri (Days and Nights in the Forest) was screened in the Cannes Classic section at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival. The film starred Soumitra Chatterjee, Subhendu Chatterjee, Samit Bhanja, Rabi Ghosh, Sharmila Tagore, Kaberi Bose, Simi Garewal and Aparna Sen. Actors Sharmila Tagore and Simi Garewal attended the event, which was hosted by the celebrated filmmaker Wes Anderson. The restoration and screening of the film also brought back the old memories for the actors. Speaking about the film, Sharmila recalled shooting for the film in extreme conditions. Sharmila Tagore was shooting for Rajesh Khanna' Aaradhna when she received a call from Satyajit Ray. The veteran actor recalled her conversation with him and told The Hollywood Reporter India, 'He said, 'Will you work in my film? I need you for one month… in month of May'. Without thinking I said yes. Then when I put the phone down, I said, 'Oh God, I am committed to Shakti Samanta because he was doing Meri Sapno Ki Rani that exact May.' She added, 'Rajesh Khanna was very busy because he had won a talent contest and was indebted to 12 producers. So he had to give dates to everybody and they were all making a film. His dates were very precious. I said, 'Shakti ji, I just have to do this film. Somehow I negotiated and managed to come to Satyajit Ray and then went back to the other film.' Sharmila Tagore, who had marked her acting debut with Satyajit Ray's Apur Sansar (The World of Apu), didn't want to take the risk of saying no to the filmmaker. 'I always treated him with a little bit of awe, respect, like you did to your father', said the actress. ALSO READ | Forget the actor, it's Mohanlal the producer who should make a comeback; the one behind both his National Awards for Best Actor In the same conversation, the 80-year-old screen legend recalled, 'When we were shooting for Aranyer Din Ratri, we were staying in different places because there was paucity of space. Simi (Garewal) and Kaberi (Bose) stayed in a sort of next-door village in a plush forest bungalow. Satyajit Ray with Soumitra Chatterjee and other crew members stayed in another place. And Samit Bhanja, Subhendu Chatterjee, Rabi Ghosh and I stayed in another place.' 'I had the chowkidar's room and I had a water cooler. In dry weather, it worked very well. These guys were in a shed with tin roof. So they would all joke about themselves and say 'I am Rabi roast, Subhendu would say I am sauteed Subhendu' because it used to be so hot. You cannot imagine how hot it was. We could only work from 5:30 AM to 9:00 AM and then again from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Rest of the time, we just bonded and became good friends. It was really a tough location.' Sharing the reason behind the filmmaker choosing the particular month of May for his shoot, Sharmila said, 'He wanted that time because the trees were leafless. He wanted a particular look and it was only possible in May because then the rains came soon after and before that it was all leafy and lush.' Aranyer Din Ratri is a Bengali-language adventure drama film based on the novel of the same name by Sunil Gangopadhyay. The film was primarily shot in the Palamu region of Jharkhand. Palamu is one of the twenty four districts of Jharkhand and the temperature crosses 44 degrees Celsius during summer, making it an extremely tough location to work in.
