Soha Ali Khan recalls Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi being the stay-at-home dad while Sharmila Tagore was the breadwinner: 'It never bothered us... it was very normal...'

Long before work-life balance became a common conversation, Sharmila Tagore was quietly mastering it in the 1970s. While she thrived as a leading actress and the family’s primary breadwinner, her husband Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi took on the role of stay-at-home parent. Their children, including Soha Ali Khan, recall this unconventional dynamic as completely normal and formative to their childhood.In a conversation with Instant Bollywood, Soha revealed that while her mother Sharmila was often away for work, her father Pataudi took on the role of stay-at-home parent. She noted that her mother loved her work and remained ambitious, balancing her career and family, even if it meant she wasn’t always present at home—a situation that never bothered them.Soha emphasized that her mother’s absence never caused any resentment among the children and felt completely normal to them. She recalled that while her father was usually at home, her mother balanced work and family as the family’s primary breadwinner, a dynamic that shaped their childhood naturally.In a previous interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Soha revealed that when Saif Ali Khan was young, Sharmila's work sometimes kept her away for weeks, which upset him. She recalled that when her mother hurried home for bedtime, Saif would sometimes react with frustration, highlighting the challenges of balancing career and family.The veteran actress herself spoke about this at a YFLO event, admitting that she was largely absent from Saif Ali Khan’s life during his first six years. She explained that her busy work schedule kept her away, though she attended key events like parent-teacher meetings and school plays. She acknowledged that her husband took on the parenting role during this time, and later, she became an overzealous mother, trying to make up for lost time, while admitting she made a few mistakes along the way.