New Delhi, quartier des ambassades, mars 1999. Sharmila Tagore, star absolue du cinéma indien, nous reçoit dans sa maison, à l’abri du tumulte de la ville.

Interview sans langue de bois d’une grande actrice qui prit contrôle de son propre destin: ‘Satyajit Ray’s sets were a one-man-show, you had to leave him to develop an identity of your own”.

Lorsqu’elle monte l’escalier et s’arrête devant la porte de sa nouvelle maison, Sharmila Tagore n’a que treize ans. Elle va tourner la première scène du Monde d’Apu. La caméra est derrière la porte. “Soumitra m’a demandé si j’étais nerveuse. Je n’ai pas eu le temps de répondre…Manikda a dit ‘Action!’. Soumitra ouvre la porte, me regarde et me dit ‘entre, bienvenue chez toi’. Ray a crié : ’Cut!Brilliant!Next shot!’. Tout est arrivé très vite….Mon état d’esprit personnel était le même que celui de la mariée: une nouvelle vie m’attendait derrière cette porte.Je me suis toujours demandé si Ray a choisi cette première scène délibérément”.

Sharmila Tagore a irradié les films de Ray de sa beauté mystérieuse. Elle sourit en se remémorant les tournages avec Satyajit Ray. Son visage s’illumine devant les planches contact de Nemai Ghosh : toute jeune en robe de mariée se faisant coiffer par la femme de Ray.“She dressed me, did my hair and tied my sari. At that time, I used to wear skirts and things! She was always there, very supportive and proud of what her husband was doing. She was Ray’s first and best director’s and life’s assistant! Manikda was her whole life really”. Sur cette autre photo, Ray lui explique une scène.Il s’est baissé pour être à sa hauteur. “I am so happy Nemai documented the rehearsals. I cherish those contact sheets he gave me, so I can show to my children the master at work : Ray holds his script book..Before each take he reads out all the parts and imitates the camera movement at the same time: every gesture counts and looks like a sacred dance. Calm without, fire within. His sweating assistant director stands beside him, recording everything he says. Ray now operates the camera, fully immerged in his universe. The whole technical crew stays silent, admiring Ray’s total control and anticipations”. A la fin de l’interview, elle semble s’adresser directement à Nemai Ghosh: ”Working with Ray was a very enriching experience, but his sets were a one man show. He was like a big tree overshadowing everybody else and in order to grow, one had to leave him to develop an identity of your own”.

’ he was like a big tree, and nothing grew under him. It was just a one-man show, In order to grow, one had to leave him’ _ in this short film Sharmila Tagore talks beautifully about Ray’s subtle use of Bengali language in his films, explains how working with him enriched her life, and remembers the period when she decided to leave Calcutta to work in Hindi films… ‘ Ray wasn’t very happy, but it had to happen ’