Two of the most popular entertainment industries in India, cricket and Bollywood have had relations since time immemorial. The love story of Bollywood actress, Sharmila Tagore, and legendary cricketer, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi is engraved in the beautiful history of the union of Bollywood and cricket. Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi was the youngest captain of the Indian cricket team, and Sharmila Tagore was at the peak of her career when they had met for the first time. They were polar opposites in temperament. But, as they say, what is meant to happen, will happen. Cupid had struck them in their first meeting itself back in 1965.
Soon after, it was in the year, 1969 when Sharmila Tagore and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi had tied the knot. Needless to say, their wedding was the most talked about affair in the country. Did you know that before the wedding, Sharmila had put a special condition to marry Mansoor? According to media reports, Shamila had asked Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi to hit a hat-trick of sixes in a match to which the legendary cricketer had agreed. The duo had gotten married and Mansor Ali Khan Pataudi had lived long enough to see their three children, Saif Ali Khan, Soha Ali Khan and Saba Ali Khan succeed in their respective fields.
In an old interview with the DNA, Sharmila Tagore had opened up about how she was not there for Saif in his growing years. During the conversation, she had mentioned how Saif's 'second mother' had helped her a lot in his upbringing. She was quoted as saying,
“I wasn’t there as much for Saif as I was for Soha and Saba as I wasn’t working so much then. I was very busy during Saif’s time and when he was growing up. I was doing double shifts, but I did have the support of my husband and also my neighbour Sunita Goswami, who also happened to be teaching at Saif’s Bohri-run school Saifee Mahal, which was a wonderful school run by Mrs Noorani. She was Saif’s second mother and she and her husband Jatin looked after him a lot. I was there for all his milestones, but I really wasn’t there for his day-to-day work. When the girls were born, I was less busy.”
Earlier, in an interview with the Indian Express, Soha Ali Khan had talked about how she had followed her mother's footsteps after becoming a mother herself. She had said,
"I did suffer in the beginning when I was coming to terms with being a mother. It was daunting and overwhelming, I was not sleeping enough, I was forgetting to eat, and I was not looking after myself. My mother was the one who told me to eat healthy, rebuild and recover."
Further, Soha had stated how she had turned into her mother, Sharmila Tagore and had said,
"I can hear my mother's voice coming out of me. Even in the way I talk to Inaaya, in the way I am guiding her, teaching her, or feeding her. My mother was always a little bit strict, and when I become strict, I almost sound like her. But, my mother was perhaps not as controlling as I am. I want to do everything, whereas she was happy to delegate."
In an interview with the DNA, Sharmila had revealed how she often advises her daughter, Soha, on motherhood and had shared,
"Of course I do, as all mothers would. Like my mother used to do when I was carrying Saif. I remember when Saif was a baby, the paediatrician had recommended that we give him orange juice to drink, but my mother said he was too small to be able to digest it and that I should dilute it with some water. I didn't listen, and Saif had a tummyache. I guess mothers do sometimes know best, and it's also the experience that counts. Yes, Soha does call me to ask for advice on what to do, and I do advise her, but I also tell her to follow it up only after checking with the physician."
Family, is indeed, everything!
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