[Archivio]
Filmfare, il celeberrimo periodico indiano in lingua inglese dedicato al cinema hindi, inaugurò le pubblicazioni nel lontano 1952. Vi propongo la copertina del numero del 19 agosto 1966, forse la più famosa in assoluto nella storia della carta stampata del subcontinente. Grande scalpore fece Sharmila Tagore, l'attrice che per prima osò indossare un bikini per lo scatto di copertina. Sharmila è la madre di Soha Ali Khan e di Saif Ali Khan.
Ecco cosa scrive M.J. Akbar nel suo romanzo Fratelli di sangue: ''Sopravvissi al 1967 grazie al bikini di Sharmila Tagore. (...) Vidi Sharmila Tagore in bikini mentre, in stato di grazia, stavo tornando dall'ufficio di Desmond; mi sembrò una ricompensa divina per il mio duro lavoro. Era sulla copertina di Filmfare, la più popolare rivista di cinema indiana. Quel bikini fu una rivoluzione. Era la prima volta che una stella appariva così scoperta, e quell'audacia aprì così tante falle nel senso del pudore della borghesia indiana che alla fine l'antico retaggio s'inabissò senza neanche un piccolo gorgoglio. Ormai anche le brave ragazze delle famiglie per bene potevano apparire sensuali'.
Aggiornamento dell'8 ottobre 2015: vi segnalo l'articolo The first bikini cover, pubblicato oggi da Filmfare. Di seguito un estratto:
'It was the ‘60s and young India was progressing rapidly in all spheres. Along with that progressed the Hindi movie industry and one such example was this controversial yet iconic Filmfare cover of Sharmila Tagore. A memorable cover for which the actress, looking ravishing as ever, donned a bikini with nonchalance and posed for renowned photographer Dhiren Chawda. With this cover, she became the first Indian actress to pose for a magazine cover in a two-piece bikini. The issue hit the stands on the 19th of August 1966 and her bold move went on to create controversies like no other. So much so that it even raised questions in the Parliament. After becoming a raging success in Bollywood, 22-year-old Sharmila shot for this cover just a couple of weeks before she got married to handsome cricketer and royalty, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.
The actress had walked in to the studio and when photographer Dhiren Chawda asked her what she would like to wear, the actress promptly pulled out a two-piece floral bikini out of her bag and said that she’d be wearing that. Years later when asked about what was going on in her mind when she made that decision, she said, “Oh! God, how conservative our society was back then! I’ve no idea why I did that shoot. It was just before I got married. I remember when I showed the two-piece bikini to the photographer he asked me, “Are you sure about this?” In some of the shots, he even asked me to cover my body. He was more worried than I was but I had no qualms doing that shoot. Only when people started reacting strongly to the cover, was I taken aback. I was puzzled as to why they didn’t like the picture. I thought I looked nice. Some called it a deliberate move to grab eyeballs; others termed me as ‘astutely uncanny’. I hated that. Maybe, there was an exhibitionist in me, as I was young and excited to do something different”.
That year alone she was seen in five movies and gave some of her most memorable performances. Rebellious move that it was the actress set a stone with this cover that sent out a strong message that India too can be sensuous. And how!'.
