The Moment the World Stopped
In 1971, Michael Caine was already a legend. He was the epitome of cool, a major movie star whose name was synonymous with hits like Alfie, The Italian Job, and the gritty masterpiece, Get Carter. Yet, for all his on-screen bravado, his private life was running dangerously close to the edge.
He was lounging at home, likely feeling the familiar pull of loneliness and the dangerous comforts of his routine (a bottle of vodka a day and heavy smoking), when destiny intervened—not on a movie set, but during a commercial break.
A Brazilian coffee advertisement for Maxwell House flickered onto the screen. It was perhaps eight seconds long. But in the background, a woman appeared, and for Michael Caine, time ceased to exist.
“I saw this lady on the television in a commercial and fell in love instantly,” he later recalled. His heart literally pounded. He broke out in a sweat. In a scene worthy of a romantic comedy, he knelt in front of the television, straining to see her face more clearly. He knew, with an instinct deeper than reason, that this was the woman who would change his life.
Ready to Fly to Brazil
Convinced the ad meant she was a resident of the country the coffee hailed from, Michael declared his intentions to his friend, Paul: he was booking a flight that very morning to search the entirety of Brazil for this mesmerizing stranger.
His friend, naturally, thought he had lost his mind. Michael, however, was dead serious. He was ready to drop everything, cross continents, and undertake a monumental, perhaps impossible, quest based on an eight-second glimpse.
Then, fate showed its hand.
Paul, who happened to work in advertising, dropped the bombshell: the woman didn’t live thousands of miles away in South America. Her name was Shakira Baksh, and she lived right there in London, just a few miles from Michael.
Shakira: A Survivor, A Beauty, A Queen
The woman who captured Michael’s attention was more than just a beautiful face; she was a survivor.
Shakira had already lived a life filled with extraordinary challenge and courage. Born in British Guiana to a Muslim family of Indian heritage, her life took a terrifying turn at age 19 when she endured a terrorist bombing at the U.S. consulate. She was left with a ruptured eardrum and a visible scar that ran from her cheek to her ear.
But Shakira was determined. She channeled her strength, entered the Miss Guyana pageant, won, and then placed an impressive third in the 1967 Miss World competition. This launched her modeling and acting career, which brought her, finally, to that Maxwell House commercial in London.
The Power of Eleven
Michael, armed with her name and number, started his campaign.
He called. She said no. He called again. She said no again. He called a third time, a fourth, a fifth—ten calls in total—and every time, the answer was a polite but firm decline.
Any normal man, especially a man of his stature, would have moved on. The sting of rejection, ten times over, is enough to deter the most passionate suitor. But Michael Caine wasn’t chasing a fleeting crush; he was chasing destiny.
On the eleventh call, Shakira finally relented.
Their first meeting was electric. “I fell in love with her in about eight minutes,” Caine said. The feeling wasn’t instantly mutual, but Shakira was intrigued. She had just seen him playing the ruthless gangster in Get Carter and expected a tough, aggressive personality. Instead, she found him charming and genuinely gentle. It took her two hours to fall in love with him, and in that moment, two remarkable lives were forever intertwined.
The Love That Saved a Life
They married on January 8, 1973, in a simple ceremony in Las Vegas. They raised their daughter, Natasha, and quietly established a marriage that would become one of Hollywood’s most enduring and respected unions, now spanning more than 52 years.
But their love story is far deeper than celebrity romance; it is a story of salvation.
Before Shakira, Michael was on a fast track to self-destruction, spiraling in the dangerous trappings of fame, fueled by alcohol and cigarettes. Shakira didn’t deliver an ultimatum. She simply existed as a reason to be better.
“She didn’t tell me to give up drinking,” he explained. “I just wanted to be sober and alive with her.”
Michael Caine has often stated unequivocally that Shakira saved his life. Without her grounding presence, he believes he would have succumbed to the excesses of fame long ago. In return, Shakira gave up her rising acting career to travel with him, ensuring their family remained a steadfast anchor amidst the unpredictable chaos of Hollywood.
When Michael was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000, becoming Sir Michael Caine, it was Lady Shakira Caine who stood proudly by his side—the woman he recognized in an eight-second flash of inspiration.
Their story is a powerful reminder that sometimes, the most profound changes in life arrive in the most unassuming packages. It takes courage to recognize destiny, and fierce persistence—even eleven calls worth—to claim it.
