- Saturday, April 12, 2025
By: Vibhuti Pathak
In a heartfelt and candid interview, Soha Ali Khan, daughter of Bollywood legend Sharmila Tagore and former Indian cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, revealed how her mother was the primary breadwinner in their family while her father played cricket simply for the love of the game. The revelation sheds light on a different era of Indian sports and the quiet strength of women behind the scenes in celebrated families.
Speaking to Just Too Filmy, Soha reflected on the financial dynamics of her household growing up. Despite her father being a celebrated cricketer and the Nawab of the princely state of Pataudi, it was her mother Sharmila Tagore, a veteran actor, who supported the family financially.
“We are often influenced by people who are close to us and one big role model for me was my father, and by the time I was born, he retired from cricket but he played for the enjoyment of the sport. There was no money at all, if you can believe, it in cricket when my father was playing in the 1960s. No IPL, no endorsements, nothing,” Soha said.
She added, “My mother was the breadwinner in the family so I always saw him saying, ‘You should do what makes you happy’, and I also saw my mother who also has been an actor her whole life, and she still chose to do whatever her heart prompted her to do.”
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Soha highlighted how Sharmila Tagore broke societal norms of the time by choosing marriage and motherhood at the peak of her acting career. “At the age of 24, she got married even though you typically don’t do that if you are a woman. You know that when you get married your career takes a bit of a hit. She had a child a couple of years later, and she continued to work and she had some of her biggest successes after that.”
The iconic couple, Sharmila and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, got married in 1968. Their interfaith union drew widespread attention and even threats during a politically sensitive period. Recalling that time in a separate interview with Twinkle Khanna on Tweak India, Soha shared how security concerns shaped their wedding.
“My family had organised the wedding at Fort William because they were very worried about what might happen since there were a lot of threats. But, Fort Williams refused at the last minute because some of the baraats that were coming had some Army connection. In the end, they found some Ambassador friend’s big house,” she recalled.
Despite the challenges, the couple stood by each other and were married for 43 years until Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi’s passing in 2011. Soha’s reflections offer a rare glimpse into the personal struggles and unconventional choices behind one of India’s most celebrated families.
