If not for Sharmila Tagore, my journey in films wouldn’t have begun: Jaya Bachchan

A few days ago when actress-politician Jaya Bachchan turned 75, Film History Pics took to its official Twitter handle to share a rare gem. It was a black-and-white photograph of a young Jaya holding up a Filmfare magazine, featuring legendary actress Sharmila Tagore - who recently made her OTT debut with Rahul V Chittella-directed Disney+ Hotstar series Gulmohar, also starring Manoj Bajpayee and Amol Palekar - on the cover. The image has been making the rounds on the internet ever since. 

They captioned the picture as, “(1963) Jaya Bhaduri holds Sharmila Tagore cover of Filmfare magazine, with beard moustache drawn & reads ‘The way I would like to see you’”. Not many people know that before she went to study at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune, Jaya made her acting debut with Satyajit Ray’s Bengali film Mahanagar, which released in 1963 and also featured Anil Chatterjee and Madhabi Mukherjee. Apparently, Sharmila - who too had embarked on her acting career with Ray’s 1959 masterpiece Apur Sansar, opposite Soumitra Chatterjee - was instrumental in Jaya bagging the role in Mahanagar. 

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Commenting on the throwback picture, Jaya told ETimes, “I was and I am very, very fond of Sharmilaji. She got me Satyajit Ray’s Mahanagar. So, my journey as a movie actress would not have begun if it wasn’t for her.”

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After Apur Sansar, Sharmila and Soumitra had appeared in another Ray directorial - Devi (1960). So, later when the legendary filmmaker was looking for a young actress to play the sister of Anil’s character in Mahanagar, Sharmila recommended Jaya. One thing led to the other and after Hrishikesh Mukherjee saw Jaya’s performance in Mahanagar, he signed her to play the title role in the Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Guddi, marking her debut in Hindi cinema. Following this, Jaya went on to be part of a slew of popular and critically acclaimed films.