By Basab Dasgupta
It is finally happening. After two years of whirlwind romance under the global spotlight and a year-long engagement, pop superstar Taylor Swift and multiple Super Bowl-winning football player Travis Kelce are set to get married on July 3, 2026, in New York City.
There were rampant speculations both for and against this outcome. Kelce’s team, the Kansas City Chiefs (KCC), was expected to win the Super Bowl of American Football last year, completing the unprecedented “threepeat”.
There was a great anticipation among fans that Kelce would then find the occasion perfect for proposing to his famous girlfriend. It would have been good timing for Swift, who had just completed her successful global “Eras” tour and could enjoy some downtime planning for the future. Unfortunately, that did not happen. KCC lost miserably to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Many “Swifties” started to worry about the future of the relationship. This was especially true since Kelce is known to be a “player” (pun intended) and Swift is known to be fond of writing songs about her breakups. However, they did get engaged last year in August. I am happy for them and especially happy for my fourteen-year-old granddaughter, a self-proclaimed Swiftie.
This romance between two superstars has drawn attention to other similar couples, where the man in the relationship is a famous athlete and the woman is a celebrity entertainer (actress, musician, model). Names of power couples were mentioned, going back decades, from Marlyn Monroe (actress) and Joe DiMaggio (baseball) to the more recent pair, Shakira (singer) and Gerard Piqué (soccer).
I became curious to see if there are similar couples in India. An internet search revealed several. Here are the ones I found (some are now divorced): Virat Kohli (cricket) and Anushka Sharma (actress), Yuvaraj Singh (cricket) and Hazel Keech (actress/dancer), Mahesh Bhupathi (tennis) and Lara Dutta (actress), Hardik Pandya (cricket) and Natasa Stankovic (actress), Mohammed Azharuddin (cricket) and Sangeeta Bijlani (actress), Harbhajan Singh (cricket) and Geeta Basra (actress), K L Rahul (cricket) and Athiya Shetty (actress) and finally, Zaheer Khan (cricket) and Sagarika Ghatge (actress).
Having lived outside of India for decades, I did not know much about these love stories, but I fondly remember one from my college days, which still stands out as the most beautiful romantic story to me: the one between the famous actress Sharmila Tagore and the incredibly talented cricket player/captain Mansoor Ali Khan, aka Nawab of Pataudi.
In my opinion, a truly great relationship must satisfy three criteria: Continuous unconditional commitment from both partners with mutual respect for each other’s talents; Willingness to sacrifice anything to make the relationship work; and finally, maintaining a happy and healthy household, including raising good children.
Many of the relationships between celebrities, especially in Western countries, do not last long for one reason or another. Sometimes previous marriages and children cause distractions, if not conflicts. Many couples seem to be satisfied with a lavish, glamorous lifestyle without children of their own.
The Sharmila-Pataudi union was perfect. They were both single when they got married in 1968. They remained married for 43 years until Pataudi passed away in 2011. I have not heard of any scandal involving either one during their entire marriage. Even after Pataudi’s death, Sharmila remained faithful to his memories.
No one can question their talents in their respective fields. Sharmila has been an outstanding actress in both Hindi and Bengali movies in a variety of roles starting from that of a housewife in a conservative family (“The World of Apu”, “Devi") to a cabaret dancer in a Paris nightclub (“An Evening in Paris”); she won numerous accolades in the process (including Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award for her contribution to performing arts).
Pataudi became the youngest captain of any national cricket team at age 21 during India’s visit to the West Indies when the captain, Nari Contractor, was injured and had to be removed from further active participation. Pataudi has been hailed as a great captain and was the captain of the Indian team in 40 of his 46 test matches. As a batsman, he has been occasionally compared with the incomparable Donald Bradman while playing with only one good eye. He received an Arjuna Award from the Government of India and was the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1968.
I absolutely admire Sharmila’s courage and determination in everything that she sets her mind to. She was the first Bollywood actress to pose in a bikini on the cover of a film magazine. It does not seem like a big deal now, but remember this happened during the sixties; coming from the revered Tagore family, she had the additional challenge of overcoming the stigma against such a display. However, the most impressive act to me was her conversion to Islam with the new name “Begum Ayesha Sultana” so that she could marry Pataudi without any religious barrier. Such interfaith marriages were rare during those days.
Pataudi’s determination showed in both his professional career on the field and his personal life. He lost sight in one of his eyes from a car accident, where a small shard of glass from the broken car windshield entered his right eye and permanently damaged it. Miraculously, this did not deter him, not only from playing but also from excelling to the highest degree.
On a personal front, he was already in a relationship with another beautiful Bollywood actress, Simi Garewal, when he met Sharmila. Simi was madly in love with Pataudi, making it painful and difficult for him to break that relationship, but he knew that Sharmila was the one.
There is a touching story about how Pataudi broke up with Simi. Like a gentleman, he went to her home to personally deliver the bad news about their relationship being over and the appearance of a new woman in his life. As he left her home, Simi accompanied him to the elevator despite his objections. Simi found Sharmila waiting for him downstairs. No one made a scene about it, which spoke volumes for the decency of both ladies.
The subsequent long married life is a testament to their love. They had three loving children, and each one has also become wonderfully successful in their chosen professions; the son, Saif Ali Khan, is an accomplished mega star in his own right and happily married to another famous Bollywood actress, Kareena Kapoor.
One of the daughters, Soha Ali Khan, is following in her mother’s footsteps in becoming a Bollywood actress. In contrast, the other daughter, Saba Ali Khan, is a famed jewelry designer and the “mutawalli” (chief trustee) of “Auqaf-e-Shahir" - a charitable trust endowed by the royal family of Bhopal. From all the news and photos that I see about Sharmila and her family, it seems that she is living a happy, peaceful life.
My message to all celebrity power couples: take Sharmila-Pataudi's love story as your gold standard.
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(California-based Basab Dasgupta has a doctorate in Physics from the University of Wisconsin and has worked with Sony as Vice President of an operating division.)
