Is Puratwan Sharmila Tagore’s last Bengali film?

When asked about turning up in future works in Bengali films, Sharmila replied, “I love doing Bengali films. I love everything about Kolkata, but I am not as fit (for acting in shoots) as required due to my health conditions.”

Recalling her shooting experience for Puratwan in 2023, she said that she shot with the film’s team of “for 14-15 days together at a resort on the bank of river Ganga and we had a great time”.

Recently, speaking with Nayandeep Rakshit on his YouTube channel, Soha Ali Khan spoke about her mother’s health issues. She had said, “With my mother, she was one of the very few people to be diagnosed with lung cancer at stage zero, and no chemotherapy, nothing. It was cut out of her and she is, touchwood, fine.”

Sharmila opens up about shooting for Puratwan

Talking about Puratwan, Sharmila shared the comfort of speaking in Bengali in a film after over a decade. She added that she could “quickly improvise for a dialogue. After so many years I could entirely speak in Bengali, my own language, in a movie”. The actor also added that “each and every film appears to be challenging”.

About Puratawn

Complimenting director Suman Ghosh for developing such a beautiful narrative she said, “he tried his best to make me look beautiful in every frame”. Sharmila said her portrayal of an elderly mother’s role in Puratwan is one “which does not come always.” In the film, she is the mother of a corporate honcho, a present-day career woman – essayed by Rituparna Sengupta.

Puratawn won the Best Feature Film award at the Indian Film Festival of Houston and previously received the Best Film and Best Actress (Sharmila Tagore) honours at the Washington DC South Asian Film Festival. Actor Indraneil Sengupta plays the male lead as Rituparna’s on-screen husband.