Sharmila Tagore married to Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi (aka Tiger Pataudi) for 43 years, before his death in 2011. Their interfaith marriage in 1968 caused a huge uproar as it was unusual in those days. Tagore’s parents threatened to kill him and many warned him about his decision. In an interview, the “Aaradhna” actress opened up about her marriage with Tiger Pataudi and revealed that they lived together before marriage. She said in an interview with Barkha Dutt, “We lived together before marriage because it was easy. Tiger used to go to the Cricket Club of India to take a bath because I was a terrible housekeeper. Nothing went well at home. “Laughing at the memory, Sharmila admits that running a house was not her forte at that time. “I was a terrible housekeeper. I’ve learned over the years. Now I’m very proud.”At a time when interfaith marriages were widely accepted, Sharmila’s relationship with Tiger became the subject of widespread public discussion. Although the family was busy with their work, he remembered that it was their families who faced great problems. “We didn’t really hear because I was working and the Tigers were playing cricket. But my parents and Tiger’s mother felt the pressure because there was so much being said. The media didn’t make our marriage last 15 months. They predicted it would be a disaster.”Sharmila also remembered the filmmaker Yash Chopra showing anxiety before marriage. “Yash Chopra told me, ‘These Nawabs are very suspicious people, so you have to be very careful.’ He was a very good friend and very caring.”He said the family had received death threats before the ceremony. “My parents received telegrams saying, ‘Bullets will speak. They decided to organize the wedding in Fort William because they thought it was a very safe place. There was a problem with the guest list and the permission was withdrawn. We had to quickly move the wedding to the ambassador’s residence, “said the artist. Sharmila had previously spoken about these threats in an interview with Twinkle Khanna about Tweak Indiashe remembers how telegrams warning that “bullets will talk” were sent because she was marrying a Muslim man. Although the marriage was violent, the ceremony was held peacefully without any incident.Reflecting on married life, Sharmila said that some of the biggest things in her life were seeing Tiger’s behavior.Those days I was very angry, but I learned a lot from Matigari. He was a very kind person. He always said, ‘With dogs, canes and children, don’t raise your voice.’He also said that Tiger never tried to change him because of his criticism. “He didn’t really yell at me or put me down. Just being there, he taught me patience and understanding.”“Words can be very cruel. Once they are spoken, you can’t take them back. You can be angry, you can disagree, but don’t say hurtful things to each other because those words last forever,” he added.
