Posted:
Why does Kareena feature in just a cameo?
The part was just right for her, and she has been very sporting about it. When you watch the film, you'll realise the directors have used our relationship well. They have cast us against each other. It works that we are in a real relationship for real. Otherwise, I think a part of me is generally wary of exposing how I feel on screen. I am a little guarded, or not as interesting on screen with my wife as I am with the other girls.
Does that mean we get to see no Kareena-Saif movies?
It means it has to be a really smart idea or something sensible to get us in a film. We should be able to come home to each other, instead of spending a day together on the sets, unless it's something really correct.
Sajid Khan and you've also had a happy ending to your fight recently. What triggered it off in the first place?
I was never upset with him. He felt a little bad as he, obviously, was possessive of his film. But I was not happy about the fact that he was upset, so I went to see him and we had a good laugh over it. The whole incident was reported in the most embarrassing way. It just didn't sound right. It's a bit sad. I'm sure even great cricketers don't always have great innings.
As a producer, what do you want to make next?
I might do another one with Raj and DK, something that's funny and has scope for performance too. I like their sense of humour. Maybe a sequel to Go Goa Gone that has nothing to do the zombies; and maybe a Rabindranath Tagore play, which is artistic and relevant. I am excited with so many of his stories that are socially relevant and beautiful love stories at the core. I like The Skeleton, which is not usually associated with him. I guess, the Tagore in my blood wants to do something for THE Tagore.
is your dad Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi's biopic on hold then?
No, it's a lovely story. It'll make for a better biopic than anybody else's, I can promise you that. It's got everything - from a Bollywood heroine to a handicapped hero (the loss of an eye before a game). It's just too good a story with a lovely title like Tiger, but we can't find anyone with the grace to play the character. It's too cool.
Can't you do it?
I don't think so. First of all, he was a prodigy. He was playing at 19.
Can't Ibrahim debut with it then?
No, he's just 13. And forget him...acting like Tiger Pataudi is one thing, who'll play Sunil Gavaskar, Vishwanath and Gary Sobers? International cricket in that era was more exciting than today, in terms of personality. Today, the players are so padded up with
helmets and gloves that you can't even recognise them when they are out in the middle. They are too boxed up to have a style of playing. Watching Azharuddin bat had a charm - thin, lanky and stylish on field. Who can bat like him? No actor can recreate that.
You have two projects to start shooting for. One of them is Mr Chaalu. What sort of a title is that?
I don't think it will be called Mr Chaalu, just for the very reason in the way you said it. I mean even if you are Mr Chaalu, it shouldn't be called Mr Chaalu. I should have this conversation with the producer, before the rest of India has it. And we'll start Suspect X sooner than I thought we would. We're working on the dates.
Phantom is unlike any Saif movie I've seen.
Phantom is a story about redemption. It's about a guy who gets a shot at getting his respect back. He's an ex-army guy sent on a pretty suicidal mission to take revene on the five or six major people responsible for the 26/11 terror act. The thing is if they can send their men undercover to kill, why can't we send someone undercover to kill them? It's a lot of fun. It's a great thing that Sajid Nadiadwala and Kabir Khan took me after making the biggest hits in Bollywood. They could have made anything with anyone. This is what Kabir chose to make, and he chose me when he could have had anyone else. And that is the reason I was hard working, well-behaved and extra good on the sets.
When do Kareena and you plan to have babies?
Ask her that! She is wary of that question. Recently she made me buy The Jungle Book and it got reported that we were buying it for the baby. It's not exactly a kiddie cartoon. It's quite a grown-up book, but someone thought Jungle Book means baby book. You haven't read it or what?
The part was just right for her, and she has been very sporting about it. When you watch the film, you'll realise the directors have used our relationship well. They have cast us against each other. It works that we are in a real relationship for real. Otherwise, I think a part of me is generally wary of exposing how I feel on screen. I am a little guarded, or not as interesting on screen with my wife as I am with the other girls.
Does that mean we get to see no Kareena-Saif movies?
It means it has to be a really smart idea or something sensible to get us in a film. We should be able to come home to each other, instead of spending a day together on the sets, unless it's something really correct.
Sajid Khan and you've also had a happy ending to your fight recently. What triggered it off in the first place?
I was never upset with him. He felt a little bad as he, obviously, was possessive of his film. But I was not happy about the fact that he was upset, so I went to see him and we had a good laugh over it. The whole incident was reported in the most embarrassing way. It just didn't sound right. It's a bit sad. I'm sure even great cricketers don't always have great innings.
As a producer, what do you want to make next?
I might do another one with Raj and DK, something that's funny and has scope for performance too. I like their sense of humour. Maybe a sequel to Go Goa Gone that has nothing to do the zombies; and maybe a Rabindranath Tagore play, which is artistic and relevant. I am excited with so many of his stories that are socially relevant and beautiful love stories at the core. I like The Skeleton, which is not usually associated with him. I guess, the Tagore in my blood wants to do something for THE Tagore.
is your dad Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi's biopic on hold then?
No, it's a lovely story. It'll make for a better biopic than anybody else's, I can promise you that. It's got everything - from a Bollywood heroine to a handicapped hero (the loss of an eye before a game). It's just too good a story with a lovely title like Tiger, but we can't find anyone with the grace to play the character. It's too cool.
Can't you do it?
I don't think so. First of all, he was a prodigy. He was playing at 19.
Can't Ibrahim debut with it then?
No, he's just 13. And forget him...acting like Tiger Pataudi is one thing, who'll play Sunil Gavaskar, Vishwanath and Gary Sobers? International cricket in that era was more exciting than today, in terms of personality. Today, the players are so padded up with
helmets and gloves that you can't even recognise them when they are out in the middle. They are too boxed up to have a style of playing. Watching Azharuddin bat had a charm - thin, lanky and stylish on field. Who can bat like him? No actor can recreate that.
You have two projects to start shooting for. One of them is Mr Chaalu. What sort of a title is that?
I don't think it will be called Mr Chaalu, just for the very reason in the way you said it. I mean even if you are Mr Chaalu, it shouldn't be called Mr Chaalu. I should have this conversation with the producer, before the rest of India has it. And we'll start Suspect X sooner than I thought we would. We're working on the dates.
Phantom is unlike any Saif movie I've seen.
Phantom is a story about redemption. It's about a guy who gets a shot at getting his respect back. He's an ex-army guy sent on a pretty suicidal mission to take revene on the five or six major people responsible for the 26/11 terror act. The thing is if they can send their men undercover to kill, why can't we send someone undercover to kill them? It's a lot of fun. It's a great thing that Sajid Nadiadwala and Kabir Khan took me after making the biggest hits in Bollywood. They could have made anything with anyone. This is what Kabir chose to make, and he chose me when he could have had anyone else. And that is the reason I was hard working, well-behaved and extra good on the sets.
When do Kareena and you plan to have babies?
Ask her that! She is wary of that question. Recently she made me buy The Jungle Book and it got reported that we were buying it for the baby. It's not exactly a kiddie cartoon. It's quite a grown-up book, but someone thought Jungle Book means baby book. You haven't read it or what?
Anupamaa
15