When Nawab Pataudi went down on one knee for Sharmila Tagore in Paris

Mumbai, Mar 12, 2023, IANS

Veteran actress Sharmila Tagore shared her love story with the ace cricketer Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and recalled how he proposed to her for marriage in Paris.

She shared: "We were in Paris and it was Bastille Day when the entire city was on the streets celebrating their independence. He went down on one knee and put forth the most heartwarming question, 'will you marry me?'. There was so much noise over there that I could not hear him, so he loudly asked again, 'will you marry me', and I said, 'Yes'."

Sharmila, who started her acting career with the legendary director Satyajit Ray's classic work 'The World of Apu' in 1959, made her place in Bollywood with the romantic movie 'Kashmir Ki Kali' opposite Shammi Kapoor and afterward there was no looking back for her. She gave several hits like 'Anupama', 'An Evening in Paris', 'Aradhana', 'Daag', 'Mausam', 'Chupke Chupke', and so on.

Apart from acting, Sharmila's interest in cricket became one of the factors in her marriage to Nawab Pataudi. After dating each other for a few years they got married on December 27, 1968, in a royal wedding ceremony.

While talking about her relationship with the late cricketer and former captain of the Indian cricket team, Sharmila spoke about her fascination for cricket and how she used to be a fan of a right-handed batsman M. L. Jaisimha.

"I have always been a cricket fan because my parents were also mad about cricket, and moreover Kolkata is a city where there is a big craze for all kinds of sports. During that phase of our lives, we would stand in a queue and cheer for the cricketers; I was actually a Jaisimha fan and it was at that time only that I happened to meet Nawab ji. Meanwhile, Nawab ji came back to India and his English was very difficult to decode as he had this pure British accent."

Elaborating more on his personality, she shared: "His sense of humour was also very unique and he would laugh at his own jokes. I would not say it was love at first sight but I always felt that he would never hurt me and I felt I could trust him and I guess that is where the love blossomed between us."

The 78-year-old actress appeared on 'The Kapil Sharma Show' as a celebrity guest. The show airs on Sony Entertainment Television.