Saif & family had no intention of meeting Julia Ro

By Subhash K. Jha

Contrary to reports in a certain section of the media, Sharmila Tagore was definitely in her husband Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi's ancestral town Pataudi, in Haryana, last weekend when Julia Roberts was shooting in the same town.

Sharmila had said on-record in a taped interview to Subhash K. Jha: "Tiger and I are here. He dragged us out here in this heat, much to our annoyance. Saif and my two daughters Sabah and Soha are also here for a Mewati Akikah ceremony, which is a traditional Muslim mundan."

However, Sharmila and her family had no intention of meeting Julia Roberts.

The clarification by the author follows an agency report quoting Sharmila as being "furious" over media reports that her family, including Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, spent last weekend at their ancestral palace in Haryana, where Julia Roberts too is staying. She told the agency: "Nobody from our family went to the Pautadi Palace."

In his Oct 1 report, Jha said that the entire Pataudi clan was at Pataudi, Haryana, over the weekend "sharing their ancestral home with Hollywood's Pretty Woman Julia Roberts".

While Roberts, the first Hollywood celebrity to stay in Pataudi House that has now been converted to a heritage hotel, is at the Nafeez Manzil, the Pataudi family was at the main palace.

"Julia Roberts is our guest. She's staying in a part of our property. We've let the unit stay in a flank because she's a colleague and I know what it is like to shoot far away from home, " Sharmila was quoted as saying over the phone from Pataudi.

"We're staying in the main palace. They are staying in a separate part of the royal property known as the Nafeez Manzil. In the past, Aamir Khan shot and stayed with us for 'The Rising'. Deepa Mehta shot 'Earth' in Pataudi though that portion was edited out, " said Sharmila.

Pataudi Palace belongs to Sharmila's husband, the erstwhile prince of Pataudi and former India cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.

Roberts, who is here to shoot the India part of her movie "Eat, Pray, Love", landed in New Delhi Sep 17. She has been shooting scenes with her Hollywood colleagues Billy Crudup, Javier Bardem and Richard Jenkins at the Ashram Hari Mandir in Pataudi, about 40 km from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Directed by Ryan Murphy, the movie is based on Pushcart prize-winning author Elizabeth Gilbert's spirituality-travel memoirs, "Eat, Pray, Love", and features Roberts as Gilbert who travels to Italy, India and Indonesia in search of peace.

The 41-year-old will be in Pataudi till Oct 9 and is expected to leave for Bali thereafter.

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