Here’s how Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli’s wedding reminded us of Sharmila Tagore and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi

Anushka Sharma-Virat Kohli had a dreamy wedding reminding us of Sharmila Tagore-Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.

Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli got married  and became the latest entrants in the list of Bollywood-meets-cricket power couples. The speculation around their wedding lasted for days but was only confirmed when the two announced their union on their social media handles. Their destination wedding in Italy gave some serious wedding goals and also shunned those who thought that the two, being at the peak of their careers might not tie the knot this soon. But, they did! And it turned out to be the most adorable wedding leaving their followers in complete awe.

So, what makes ‘Virushka’ different from other recent actress-cricketer couples? Well, a lot many things. But they definitely give us a deja-vu of another power couple who’ve been there and done that – Sharmila Tagore and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.

Sharmila Tagore and Nawab of Pataudi met during a cricket match in New Delhi in 1965.

Making a comparison between these two couples would be unfair. But then, what Anushka and Virat did was on similar lines. To begin with, both have taught us that fairytale love stories do exist. Both were in their 20s when they chose marriage. Tiger Pataudi was the youngest captain of the Indian cricket team way back in 1965 when he met the rising star Sharmila through common friends in New Delhi. Pataudi’s unawareness about films lead to both of them meeting as common people.

Cut to Virushka – while one is the blue-eyed boy of Indian cricket, the other is one of the finest actresses today. The two met during a TVC shoot in 2013 and hit off immediately, becoming ‘good friends’ and soon fueling dating rumours. But for both the couples, there was initial attraction, but their love story did not begin overnight.

Virushka met during the shoot of a shampoo brand in 2013.

For our veteran couple, the dashing royal had to do a lot of wooing to impress the Bollywood princess. The Nawab of Pataudi tried everything over a span of next four years, from sending gifts to roses and even a refrigerator to win the Bengali beauty. In case of Virat-Anushka, while they began being spotted together, things took a turn in 2014 when Virat did not join his squad after returning from their South Africa tour, instead headed to Anushka’s apartment from the Mumbai airport.

This was followed by Anushka joining Virat the same year during his New Zealand tour and them being seen strolling the city hand-in-hand. For both our couples, they somewhere knew that cupid had struck but they refused to accept it publicly. Anushka even referred to Virat as a ‘friend’ on Koffee With Karan.

Virat Kohli’s flying kiss almost assured his relationship with Anushka Sharma.

While our Nawab began doing the rounds of Sharmila’s films sets, Virat did the same when he gave Anushka a surprise visit during the shooting of Bombay Velvet in Sri Lanka followed by leaving his IPL series in the middle to be with his lady on her 26th birthday in Udaipur where she was shooting. He made his relationship kind of official when he blew a flying kiss to Anushka who was sitting in the stand, after completing his half-century against Sri Lanka in 2014.

Also read | How Anushka Sharma-Virat Kohli defied social media culture and kept their wedding a classy affair

Virushka made their first official red-carpet appearance together at the Vogue Beauty Awards in 2015. At different points, the two accepted their love too. While Virat said, “Whatever is there is out in the open, I have nothing to hide”, Anushka followed it with, “We are not hiding anything. We are being two normal young people in a relationship.” It is said that once, even Sharmila left her shoot midway to say goodbye to Pataudi at Ahmedabad airport.

Sharmila Tagore converted to Islam and took on the name Ayesha Sultana to marry Tiger Pataudi.

Both the couples also faced trouble due to similar reasons. In 1967, when Sharmila and Pataudi began dating, Sharmila appeared in a bikini in An Evening In Paris, leaving many unhappy. In 2014, Virat reportedly had a tiff with Anushka when she did a racy photoshoot for a men’s magazine cover. The two ended up parting ways only to get back again soon. While Pataudi stood by Sharmila’s bold career decisions, Virat too defended Anushka when she was trolled for his bad performance in the matches.

Sharmila Tagore was the first female actor of her times to wear a bikini in her film An Evening In Paris.

In the past, marrying someone with a film or cricket background wasn’t considered stable or long-term. And hence people weren’t expecting commitment from Pataudi and Sharmila. For Virushka, both have only seen an upswing in their careers in past few years. While Virat went on to become the Indian skipper, Anushka delivered some good films and even set-up her own production banner. All these four stars were at the peak of their careers and hence a nuptial was just out of question. But just like Pataudi and Sharmila, who surprised the world, Anushka and Virat too gave it to those who weren’t sure about them. Both the couples tied the knot in the most royal manner.

Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli had also appeared in a TVC for a wedding collection.

The Pataudis obviously had a royal nuptial, Virushka too chose an Italian royal resort for their destination wedding. The former’s wedding album was what dream marriages are made of. And so was that of Anushka and Virat’s.

While Sharmila took a break from Bollywood briefly only to get back soon, Anushka will be returning to her film’s sets in January. The lady luck favoured both the cricketers too. While Tiger Pataudi came to be described as “India’s greatest cricket captain”, Virat is already one of the world’s most famous athletes as ranked by ESPN and one of the most valuable athlete brands by Forbes. Post marriage, Sharmila’s career only saw an upswing. And keeping in view Anushka’s upcoming Pari, Sui Dhaaga and Aanand L Rai’s untitled film, the coming year will only give a boost to her career.

While these two couples could never avert the hide-and-seek with paparazzi, we hope Virushka also become the iconic and most loved Bollywood-cricket couple just like Nawab of Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore.