It was Sharmila Tagore’s elder daughter and Saif’s sister Sabaa’s birthday on May 1st. They her gift was Saif’s new film Ta Ra Rum Pum. Saif’s mom Sharmila said, the film turned out to be a huge treat for the birthday girl. “Sabaa and I had huge arguments especially about the end of Tara Rum Pum. I thought it could have been different, friendlier. I wanted Saif and his family in Tara Rum Pum to stay on in the poor community because they found happiness there. But Sabaa fought back and out-argued me. I don’t think my family was with me in my Gandhian thoughts.”
But the one factor that the whole Pataudi family agrees on is the scion’s skills. “Sabaa and we all thought Saif managed to hold his own. You know, in Parineeta and Omkara his performance was helped considerably by the director. But here in Tara Rum Pum he managed to say and do quite a lot on his own.” Sharmila found the subject elitist. “And the concept of poverty here was that the kids couldn’t eat burgers. But then Saif does have an up market image.”
Sharmila reacted favourably to her fellow-Bengali actress. “Rani was good in the second-half. I thought that her pre-marriage scenes weren’t very well written. It’s very difficult for us here to relate to a concept like blind date. As for Tara Rum Pum being copied from Hollywod films, tell me how many Bollywood films are original?” Sharmila glows when she speaks about her son. “Saif is becoming…wow! Mash-Allah, his scenes with the children were so full of warmth. I speak as a fellow-actor and now a mother when I say Saif is really growing with every film.”
Tell her Saif is evolving as one of Bollywood’s finest actors. And Sharmila sighs, “Mash Allah, Please pray for him. And let’s hope he stays on the straight-and-narrow path.”
— Subhash K. Jha
