Sharmila Tagore converted to Islam, changed her name to Ayesha

Sharmila Tagore and former captain of Indian cricket team Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, fondly called Tiger Pataudi fell in love and got married against all odds. Their interfaith marriage was opposed by many and they also got death threats because at that point. They tied the knot in December 1968 and have three children – Saif Ali Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Saba Ali Pataudi. In a recent interview, Soha has reflected on the interfaith marriage of her parents. She recalled how Sharmila converted to Islam before her wedding. The actress said in an interview with Hauterrfly, “She converted, and her name is Ayesha. It used to be confusing, because sometimes she would sign ‘Ayesha’ and sometimes she would write ‘Sharmila’. But because she has always been Sharmila Tagore in her whole professional career, people still know her as Sharmila Tagore. But she is also Ayesha.”Earlier during a chat with Simi Garewal, Tagore had spoken about her converting to Islam. She had said, “It wasn’t easy nor was it very difficult. It had to be faced and understood. You couldn’t be very flippant about it. Before that, I wasn’t terribly religious. Now, I think I know more about Hinduism and Islam.” In the same chat, Tiger Pataudi revealed that he had suggested the name Ayesha. Recalling the death threats they were getting, Sharmila had earlier revealed in an interview with Barkha Dutt on Mojo story, “In Kolkata, when I was getting married, my parents were getting telegrams saying that bullets shall speak. And Tiger’s family was also getting… they were getting a little worried.”Interestingly, Saif Ali Khan and Soha both had interfaith marriages. While Saif is married to Kareena Kapoor, Soha married Kunal Kemmu.