Great-granddaughter of poet Rabindranath Tagore, she began her career as an actress in the film Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) directed by Satyajit Ray, with whom she will play in five films, such as Devi (the Godess), presented in Competition at Cannes. She interpreted great roles of Bengali cinema before establishing herself as a popular Hindi film actress with Shakti Samanta's Kashmir Ki Kali. Samanta will cast her in many more films such as An Evening in Paris (1967), Aradhana (1969) and Amar Prem (1972). She also plays in Daag (1973), Safar (1970) Gulzar's Mausam (1975). In 1991, she played in Mira Nair's Mississippi Masala. Her latest release is Vidhu Vinod Chopra film, Eklavya: The Royal Guard (2006), where she plays with her son, Saif Ali Khan, one of the most popular Bollywood actor. Sharmila Tagore is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.