Sharmila Tagore On Romance With Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi

NEW DELHI, (IANS) – Veteran actress Sharmila Tagore, took a stroll down memory lane and recalled her first meeting with the former captain of the Indian cricket team Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, and shared the story of how the couple fell in love with each other.

Sharmila has been in 43 years of a nuptial bond with the ’Nawab of Pataudi’- Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. They got married in 1968 and have three children: actor Saif Ali Khan, Saba and Soha Ali Khan. The Indian cricketer passed away at the age of 70 in 2011.

The legendary actress appeared on the finale episode of the quiz-based reality show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 15’ along with her granddaughter and actress Sara Ali Khan, who is the daughter of Saif, and Amrita Singh.

“At a cricket party in Kolkata, we met. And then we exchanged telephone numbers. We were going to Nainital for ‘Waqt’. That’s when he scored a double century in Delhi so that was very famous. So, I called him, and he was not at home. So, I left a message congratulating him for the double century as Sharmila Tagore,” said the 79-year-old actress.

The ‘Talash’ actress further said: “So, a few months later, in Mumbai, there was a funny call that I have received five air conditioners from London. Back then, all imported things were banned. I thought somebody was trying to get me into trouble. And I’ll go to jail. I’ve never even ordered them. I got perturbed. There was a number given. So, I rang that number.

On the other end, it was Tiger Pataudi. And he said ‘ha-ha-ha. It was a joke!’ That kind of joke, you know. So anyway. So that’s how it happened. And he asked if we could go out for coffee. I said yeah, we’ll go out for coffee,” she shared.

Turning to Sara, she jokingly said: “So, don’t go for a coffee.”

Sharmila concluded by saying, “We never stopped.”

On the work front, she was last seen in the movie ‘Gulmohar’, which stars Manoj Bajpayee.