Sharmila Tagore on Cannes Duty

She's made it to Cannes before but this is the first time that she will be making an appearance there as a jury member. It is a rare honour for Sharmila Tagore, as she will be the only Indian serving as a jury member at the festival.

The former glamour queen of Hindi cinema, first made her Cannes appearance in 1962, as an actress whose film was being screened at the festival. Her film Devi, which was directed by the late maestro Satyajit Ray was one of the Indian entries that year. Five years ago, she went back to the festival again, this time to celebrate 50 years of Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali, his first movie as director. The actress was not part of the film, but owes her career to the Bengal master who introduced her to films with his third film of the Apu trilogy, called Apur Sansar. Thereafter, she was seen in many of his films, like Devi, Aryaner Din Raat, Nayak, Seembaddha etc This time round, the actress will be making it as one of the nine members on the jury panel of the festival. With Sajid Nadiadwala not taking his Kambakkht Ishq to Cannes, Sharmila will be doing a solo act at the French city.