Veteran actor Sharmila Tagore and cricket legend Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi were married for 43 years before Mansoor passed away in 2011.
In a recent interaction, Sharmila spoke about their marriage and revealed how they lived together before tying the knot for the sake of convenience.
After living together for some time, Sharmila and Pataudi tied the knot, but not without facing public scrutiny. Their interfaith marriage invited a lot of negative press and judgement. Speaking about the same, Sharmila shared that even filmmaker Yash Chopra had expressed concern. "We didn't really feel it because I was working and Tiger was playing cricket. But my parents and Tiger's mother felt the pressure because there was so much being said. The media wasn't giving our marriage more than 15 months. They predicted it would be a disaster. Yash Chopra told me, 'These Nawabs are very doubtful people, so you have to be very careful.' He was a good friend and genuinely concerned."
Sharmila also recalled that threats were made during their wedding preparations. She revealed that her parents received telegrams saying, 'Bullets shall speak.' She further shared that the venue of their wedding had to be shifted at the last minute due to security concerns.
Sharmila and Mansoor met in the 1960s through common friends. During their courtship, Mansoor famously sent Sharmila air conditioners and roses from London. Sharmila had earlier spoken about their love story on The Kapil Sharma Show in 2023. She said, “His sense of humour was very different. He used to laugh at his jokes because we never understood. I think my children will kill me when they hear this. Yeh sab kya ho raha hai…appa ke baare me kya bol rahi ho tum (What is happening what are you saying about dad)? It was not love at first sight. But it was love. I just felt that he would never hurt me intentionally. I felt I could trust him. That was the basis. Isn’t that the most important thing?”