Check out the priceless and rare picture of Sharmila Tagore and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi posing with the then-newly-weds, Randhir Kapoor and Babita on their wedding in 1971.
Hailing from the prominent Kapoor family, Randhir Kapoor is the eldest son of actor-filmmaker, late Raj Kapoor and Krishna Raj Kapoor. Post his child appearance in the films, Shree 420 (1955) and Do Ustad (1959), Randhir had worked as an assistant director for the film, Jhuk Gaya Aasman (1968). He finally made his debut as an actor and a director in Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971), starring his grandfather, Prithviraj Kapoor, father, Raj Kapoor and his ladylove, Babita. When the Kapoor khandaan had opposed marrying actresses, Randhir Kapoor had fallen for Babita Shivdasani, daughter of actor, Hari Shivdasani. (Also Read: When Saif Ali Khan Couldn't Take His Eyes Off His Wife, Kareena Kapoor Khan As They Twinned In White)
Randhir Kapoor had found his Hamrahi in Babita Shivdasani and his Armaan of making her his Biwi-O-Biwi was fulfilled in 1971 in a traditional Punjabi wedding at the plush Kapoor residence in Mumbai. With Kasme Vaade to love each other Kal Aaj Aur Kal, Randhir and Babita had embarked on their marital journey. For her Farz towards the Kapoor family, Babita didn’t continue her career and had quit acting post her wedding with Randhir. More than one-and-a-half decades later, Randhir and Babita had parted their ways. Though they are separated, Randhir and Babita had let bygones be bygones and had never filed for the divorce. The ex-couple meets each other for family get-togethers, vacations and maintains a cordial relationship.
Randhir Kapoor and Babita are blessed with two daughters, Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan. It was in 2012 when Kareena had married the Nawab of Pataudi, Saif Ali Khan, son of Sharmila Tagore and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, in a traditional nikaah ceremony. We stumbled upon a rare picture of Sharmila Tagore and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi posing with the then-newly-weds, Randhir Kapoor and Babita on their wedding. The black-and-white picture has Sharmila and Babita looking graceful as ever their traditional ensembles, MAK and Randhir charming us in their suited and booted avatar.
In an interview with the Hindustan Times, Randhir Kapoor had revealed why he hasn’t divorced Babita. He was quoted as saying, "Divorce for what? Why should we head for divorce? I don’t intend to get married again, and nor does she. She found that I was a terrible man who drank a lot and came home late, which was something she didn’t like. And I didn’t want to live the way she wanted, and she couldn’t accept me as I am, though it was a love marriage. So, it’s okay. We had two lovely children to look after. She brought them up in the best way and they have excelled in their career. What else I could have asked for as a father?" When asked if Babita still has a special place in his heart, Randhir Kapoor had retorted, “She’s a crucial part of my life. She has given me two lovely kids. We are all grown up people, and we preferred to stay separately, [but] we are not enemies.” (Also Read: Saif Ali Khan And Kareena Kapoor Khan's Combined Net Worth; Own Pataudi Palace, Four Flats In Mumbai)
Speaking of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, he was born with a silver spoon and became a pioneering figure in India's rich cricketing heritage. Just like his father, Iftikhar Ali Khan, MAK had impressed the cricket fans with his strokes and moves which not many would have imagined on-field on those days. MAK found his sapnon ki rani in Sharmila Tagore, the leading and the most versatile Bollywood actress of her time, and the couple had tied the knot in 1969. MAK and Sharmila Tagore are blessed with three children, Saif Ali Khan (1970), Saba Ali Khan (1976) and Soha Ali Khan (1978).
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore’s daughter, actress-turned-author, Soha Ali Khan had shared the rare, rather ‘only’ picture of the entire Pataudi family with Kareena Kapoor Khan in the frame in her book, The Perils of Being Moderately Famous. In an interview with the Vogue, when Kareena Kapoor Khan was asked what is the one thing she would like to gift her son, Taimur Ali Khan that money can’t buy, her answer had won our hearts. She had said, “A chance to meet his grandfather and great grandfather.” (Also Read: Inside Tour Of Soha Ali Khan And Kunal Kemmu's 9 Crore Worth Home Which Reflects Their Personalities)
Isn’t this picture of Raj Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Babita, Sharmila Tagore and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi in one frame, a sight to behold?