The chatter in the Bengali film industry is that the Bengal Tigress has roared again. When we mention this to Sharmila Tagore, she laughs, before saying, “The media sometimes called me ‘La Tagore’, and at other times, Bengal Tigress. Since I was married to Tiger Pataudi, the [latter] came easily to them.” 

One can understand the Bengali film industry and the audience’s exhilaration to see Tagore returning to Tollywood after 16 years. And with a brilliant film like Puratawn at that. Suman Ghosh’s directorial venture, also starring Rituparna Sengupta, explores a mother-daughter relationship as Tagore’s character slowly loses her grip on reality and shows first signs of memory loss. It is being hailed as among the senior actor’s best performances. “We were aiming for critical acclaim, and never thought that theatres would run house-full over weeks. It was surprising to know that it’s a success. When we make a film, we never think if it will be a success or not. We thought Puratawn is different from the usual movies as it doesn’t have the ingredients for a hit film.”