On the December 28 episode of Koffee with Karan, Bollywood veteran actress Sharmila Tagore and her son Saif Ali Khan made an appearance on the streaming chat show. During the same episode, in a questionnaire between Karan and Sharmila, Karan asked Sharmila what the reason was behind her declining the offer to be a part of Rocky Aur Rani ki Prem Kahani, which she opened up about once she was diagnosed with cancer.
Karan Johar, the host of the chat show, was the director of “Rocky aur rani ki Prem Kahani.” Karan had first offered Sharmila Tagore the role of Jamini Chatterjee in the movie RRPK, but later, she declined the role, and Shabana Azmi was cast instead. The reason given by Sharmila for not accepting the offer was because she was once diagnosed with cancer and their chances of her getting affected as the pandemic wasn’t completely over.
Why didn’t Sharmila Tagore do RRPK?
In her appearance on the Koffee with Karan 28 December episode, Sharmila Tagore shared that when she was offered the role of Jamini Chatterjee in the movie Rocky Aur Rani ki Prem Kahani, she couldn’t do it as she was concerned about her health at the time.
Karan said that he was truly willing to work with her on this film as he was the director of it, and he totally regrets not being able to work with her. Sharmila mentions that when she was offered the role, there was just a little gap of time from when COVID-19 was at its height. As the shooting of the movie had already started to take place when COVID-19 was still a concern,
She and her family were not vaccinated, and the fear of being caught off guard by COVID-19 after her cancer was not a good idea. On this, Karan said he still regrets not having the opportunity to work with her, but it is something he still hopes that we can make up for and work together.
The movie Rocky aur rani ki Prem Kahani is produced by Dharma Productions, which is owned by Yash Johar and inherited by Karan Johar. The movie is directed by Karan Johar, with Alia Bhatt (Rani Chatterjee) and Ranveer Singh (Rocky Randhawa) as the main protagonists, and other actors were Shabana Azmi (Jamini Chatterjee), Jaya Bachchan (DhanLakshmi Randhawa), and Dharmendra (Kanwal Lund).
In the movie, Shabana Ji plays the role of Alia Bhatt’s grandmother and a past love interest of Ranveer Singh’s grandfather, Dharmendra Ji. Their past love interest is what brings Rocky and Rani close to each other and makes them fall in love.
Karan Johar said in the episode, “I’d offered Sharmila Ji the part played by Shabana Ji; she was my very first choice. But because of health reasons at that time, she couldn’t say yes. It is a regret I have.”
Sharmila Tagore
The Bollywood veteran actress Sharmila Tagore, aka Begum Ayesha Sultana, got married to cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. The couple shares three children: Saif Ali Khan, Soha, and Saba. She made her debut at age 14 with Satyajit Ray’s The World of Apu (1959), a Bengali epic drama. Till 1971, she continued doing Bengali cinema.
In the Bengali cinema era of her career, she made her first step forward to Hindi films by getting started in Shakti Samanta’s 1964 film Kashmir ki Kali, followed by films like Waqt, Anupama, An Evening in Paris, Amar Prem, and Aradhana, for which she was awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
Sharmila Tagore was also honored with the National Film Award for Best Actress for Mausam and a National Film Award for Best Supporting Role in Goutam Ghose’s Abar Aranye (2002). She also served as chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification from October 2004 to March 2011, followed by December 2005, when she was chosen as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
After a 13-year hiatus, Sharmila Ji has returned to her acting career with the streaming film ‘Gulmohar’ which also stars Manoj Bajpayee. She has played the role of a queer character in the film.
