On December 27, 1968, the high profile wedding of former Indian skipper Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and prominent Bollywood actress Sharmila took place. The royal wedding ceremony in pre-social media era is still capable of giving the current generation #weddinggoals. The glamorous duo's love blossomed in 1970s but not many know how their love story began, hardships faced and the happily ever after.
The first meeting with Sharmila Tagore
In 1965, two stars of their respective fields met each other at an after-match party in Delhi through a common friend. Sharmila had come to watch the match even though in several interviews she had admitted that she did know know much about the game. On the other hand, Pataudi said that he had not seen Sharmila’s movies. However, the lack of knowledge about each other’s work did not pose as a roadblock in two prominent personalities’ love life.
“I met him in around 1965 at somebody’s party. There we got to talk to each other. He had a very British accent and nobody would laugh at his jokes since they didn’t understand them. So, he used to laugh at his jokes himself,” Sharmila revealed in an interaction with Indian Express.
Wooing Sharmila and bizarre refrigerator tale
While many were in awe of his batting, Sharmila liked him for his sense of humour. She did not know know enough about him but trusted him as someone who would never intentionally hurt her. Her premonitions were correct as Pataudi turned out to be a gentleman from the beginning.
While the attraction between the two was there from the start, Sharmila was not easy to woo for someone as charismatic as the Nawab of Pataudi. Not sure of the ways to Bengal beauty's heart, he even took the bizarre route of sending refrigerators to impress her. While the move was unorthodox, it is to be taken into account that home appliances such as refrigerators were not too common in 1970s. At last, it was the roses and letters which impressed Sharmila. She took her sweet time of four years to say 'yes' to Tiger Pataudi.
The two stars’ busy lives
As expected, Tiger Pataudi was no ordinary man. A graduate from Oxford played county cricket and took over the captaincy of Indian cricket team at a young age of 21. Despite permanent damage to right eye’s sight due to a freak injury, he not only batted well but was called the best fielder India had at the times. Later, he went down as one of India’s best captains in the longest format of the game.
Sharmila stared her acting career at the tender age of 13. She had mastered her craft and had given many spectacular movies like Anupama, Waqt, An Evening in Paris and others. According to some media reports, before meeting Sharmila he was in a relationship with Simi Garewal. As he fell in love with Sharmila, he went to Simi's apartment to end the relationship with her.
Getting families’ permission
Despite being a high profile couple, the two had to face a lot of difficulties before getting married. Pataudi was a Muslim Nawab whereas Sharmila belonged to the prominent Tagore family. Apparently, Pataudi's family did not like Sharmila's acting profession whereas Sharmila's family was skeptical after hearing about Pataudi's kind of lifestyle. At last, the two got married in 1969 with their respective families' approval.
The progressive power couple
"When we decided to get married, we didn’t even know the words secular or communal — we were in the throes of young love; we didn’t know what the fuss around us was all about. We weren’t aware of the larger ramifications because for us, the world began and ended with each other. Being together wasn’t really a deliberate defiance of norms, it just stemmed from an overwhelming desire to be together," the actress had revealed.
In 1967, Sharmila became the first Indian actress to don the bikini. However, the bold move did not affect the equation between the couple. After marriage, she continued to work in the industry and gave several hits. Her acting career did not come to a halt when she gave birth to Saif Ali Khan. While many actresses gave up their careers after getting married, Sharmila did not give in to the stereotype.
