Sharmila Tagore and the late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi’s love story is straight out of a fairytale. The senior actor recently opened up on her four-year courtship and decades-long marriage with the cricketer, as she shot for an episode of The Kapil Sharma Show. Tagore, who was joined by her Gulmohar co-star Manoj Bajpayee on the episode, took a walk down memory lane, reliving how she met Pataudi through a common friend.

The veteran actor recounted that she was an ardent cricket fan. She shared, “My parents were mad about cricket, and Kolkata has a craze for all kinds of sports. I remember we would stand in a queue and cheer for the cricketers; I was [M L] Jaisimha’s fan. It was around that time that I met Nawab ji. At the time, he had recently returned to India and his English was difficult to understand as he had a pure British accent. His sense of humour was also unique. I wouldn’t say it was love at first sight, but I always felt that he would never hurt me. I felt I could trust him, and that is where love blossomed between us.”

Many dream of having the perfect proposal in Paris. Tagore considers herself lucky that she experienced it. When one of the hosts, Archana Puran Singh, asked her how Pataudi popped the question, she replied, “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 asked, ‘Will you marry me?’ Since it was very loud, I couldn’t hear him. So, he asked again loudly, and I said ‘Yes!’”

On the comedy show, Tagore and Bajpayee were joined by other cast members of Gulmohar. When host Kapil Sharma asked Bajpayee about his experience of working with the veteran actor, he admitted that it was a dream come true.

“I still can’t believe that I have worked with Sharmila Tagore. After the reading for the film was done, the workshop conducted by me was about to begin. We all expected Sharmila Tagore ji would leave, but she didn’t. Despite the workshops not being intended for her, she wholeheartedly participated in all the exercises. She was incredibly supportive during the film’s making.”