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Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi birthday anniversary: How Sharmila Tagore met ‘Tiger Pataudi’ and decided to get married

Sharmila Tagore and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi had an inter-faith marriage which was unheard of at that time.

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi birthday anniversary sharmila Tagore

Sharmila Tagore and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi were married for over 43 years until his death in 2011. (Photo: Saba Pataudi/Instagram)

Today marks the birthday anniversary of the legendary Indian cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, fondly called ‘Tiger Pataudi’. He also held the title of Nawab of Pataudi. The cricketer is also remembered for his iconic marriage to actor Sharmila Tagore, a love story that became a subject of much media attention.

The couple’s romance, which had been unfolding for a few years, culminated in their wedding on December 27, 1968. It was an interfaith marriage—an audacious step in those times. Sharmila embraced Islam and took on the name Ayesha. Sharmila spoke candidly about the challenges her family faced due to their differing religious backgrounds. She once revealed the threats her family received, warning that they would be shot if she went ahead with the marriage.

Also read | Watch Sharmila Tagore at SCREEN Live as she talks about films, career, state of cinema

Sharmila later said that her journey to understand both Hinduism and Islam was transformative, and she gained a deep respect for both religions.

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A post shared by Saba Pataudi (@sabapataudi)

Parents to Saif Ali Khan, Saba Pataudi, and Soha Ali Khan, the couple was married for 43 years before his passing in 2011. Saba recently shared an emotional post on social media to mark their wedding anniversary. Reflecting on the warmth of their relationship, Saba fondly recalled how she would greet her father every morning and remind him of their anniversary, with Mansoor humorously pretending to forget, before sneaking off to surprise Sharmila with flowers.

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She wrote, “27th December. When Harry met Sally….. When his Highness met Sharmila Tagore :))….. eyes met and the rest is history. Love you both! Happy Anniversary Missing you Abba. I would wake up every morning, go down to wish them. Remind Abba as our tradition, it was their anniversary! He’d wink at me and say, is it today?? Lol …and go wish Amma. Secretly having (or maybe) after organize some flowers for her! Wish those days were here still…but life moves on and memories live in our hearts forever.”

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A post shared by Saba Pataudi (@sabapataudi)

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore’s wedding pictures and many old memories often makes it to Saba’s Instagram.

Some family photos of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore with kids, Saif, Saba and Soha:

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A post shared by Saba Pataudi (@sabapataudi)

Talking about her first meeting with Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Sharmila recently shared in an interaction with Twinkle Khanna, “I met him at one of these cricket parties and he had just come back from England so that was the first time we met. I was going to Nainital for work and I was in Delhi when he scored his double century so we had exchanged telephone numbers in Kolkata so I called his house and left a message saying, ‘well done congratulations’ and forgot all about it.”

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A post shared by Saba Pataudi (@sabapataudi)

Sharmila shared that after the two met for a cup of coffee, during their conversation, she found Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi to be ‘gentle and trustworthy’. Sharmila got a notion that he would never intentionally hurt her. After two years of engagement, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Sharmila decided that it was the right time to get married and another two years later, she felt it was time to start a family.

Kriti Sonali

Kriti works as a Copy Editor for the Entertainment section of Indian Express Online (Indianexpress.com). She is great at web stories, galleries, and Express Archive's photo stories. She is good at spotting stories from social media posts. She makes the copies well-loaded with content, photos, tweets, and other related social media posts to make it interesting for the readers. An alumnus of Asian College of Journalism, Chennai (Specialization in New Media), Kriti has been a part of the organisation since November 2015. She took a transfer from Delhi to Bengaluru in April 2017. ... Read More

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