Sharmila Tagore Lived With Tiger Pataudi Before Marriage, Received Death Threats Over Interfaith Wedding: ‘Yash Chopra Told Me Nawabs Are Dodgy People’ | Hindi Movie News

Sharmila Tagore was married to Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi (affectionately called Tiger Pataudi) for 43 years, before he died in 2011. His interfaith marriage in 1968 created quite a stir as it was not so normal in those days. So much so that Tagore’s parents received death threats and many also warned her against her decision. In an interview, the ‘Aaradhna’ actress opened up about her marriage with Tiger Pataudi and revealed that they were living together before getting married. She said in an interview with Barkha Dutt, “We lived together before we got married because it was more convenient. Tiger often went to the Cricket Club of India to shower because I was a terrible housekeeper. Nothing was working properly at home.”Laughing at the memory, Sharmila admitted that running a household was not her forte back then. “I was a terrible housekeeper. I’ve learned over the years. Now I’m very proud of the house.”At a time when interfaith marriages were much less accepted, Sharmila and Tiger’s relationship became the subject of widespread public discussion. Although the couple remained busy with their careers, she recalled that it was their families who faced the most pressure. “We didn’t really feel it because I was working and Tiger was playing cricket. But my parents and Tiger’s mother felt the pressure because there was so much talk. The media did not give our marriage more than 15 months. They predicted it would be a disaster.”Sharmila also remembered the filmmaker Yash Chopra express concern before the wedding. “Yash Chopra told me, ‘These nawabs are very dubious people, so you have to be very careful.’ He was a good friend and genuinely concerned.”He further revealed that the family had even received death threats before the ceremony. “My parents received telegrams saying, ‘Bullets will talk’. They decided to hold the wedding in Fort William because they thought it would be the safest place. There was a problem with the guest list and permission was withdrawn. We had to quickly move the wedding to an ambassador’s residence,” said the actress. Sharmila had earlier spoken about these threats during an interaction with Twinkle Khanna for Adjust Indiarecalling how telegrams were sent warning that “bullets will talk” because she was marrying a Muslim. Despite the hostility surrounding the wedding, the ceremony was conducted peacefully without any untoward incident.Reflecting on married life, Sharmila said some of her biggest life lessons came from simply watching Tiger behave.“He was quite temperamental at the time, but I learned a lot from Tiger. He was a very kind person. He always said, ‘With dogs, with staff and with children, you must never raise your voice.'”She added that Tiger never tried to change her through criticism. “He never scolded me or let me down. Just by being there, he taught me patience and understanding.”“Words can be very vicious. Once said, you can’t take them back. You can be angry, you can disagree, but you shouldn’t say things that hurt because those words stay forever,” he added.