These cases led to demands that he should be stripped off the Padma Shri title. Saif confides that he feels he doesn't deserve the honour and his first instinct was not to accept it. "My father thought for a second, then told me he didn't think I could say no' to the Indian government. I wish I'd followed my instinct," he says. "A Padma Shri isn't hauled up for a fracas in a restaurant or bad behaviour."
Talking about the recent demand to withdraw the honour he agrees that there's dissatisfaction over the decision, a feeling that it was a case of nepotism with the Congress government showering undue love on him. "I plead innocence on these counts but I'm embarrassed to flaunt the Padma Shri. I got a letter from the government that the positives outweight this negatives. I can argue that despite my family background, I made my way on my own, created an urban, multiplex hero, but that's pathetic. I only accepted the honour when two-three names in the list of recipients caught my eye. I thought if the honour could be given to them, they could give it to me, too," he reasons.
FULL INTERVIEW
As Saif Ali Khan steps into the room after a quick shower, you realise he's looking different. Maybe it's his unusual attire " a white kurta tucked into shorts " or maybe, it's the agent' haircut. He insists, it's the two-year-old beard. "I'm fed up of it and even shaved it off, but the Phantom makers insisted I grow it back for the promotions. I've also been exercising and dieting," he admits.
There's a mellow air about him which has nothing to do with becoming a nawab. He doesn't take the title seriously and the responsibilities he's undertaken are as a good citizen helping those less fortunate.
"I recall my father (Mansoor Ali Khan Patuadi) saying, after the privy purses were abolished, and it was a relief not to be a nawab anymore. You were expected to look after everyone and there wasn't enough money to do so. Being a royal is interesting only if you are paid huge money, which we aren't. I inherited a nice house and some great cricket photographs, but the money to renovate the house comes from my movies," he asserts, adding that after his death, his children, Sara and Ibrahim, will get lots of money and land, houses and watches. "But it's what I earned, not inherited." There was a time when money was a concern, but today he's settled, financially, and looking forward to moving into a new house, renting out property, investments paying off and living on a certain budget independent of movies. "Now I can work with good directors, build a reputation as a reliable, committed actor and produce something creatively special with an eye on the budget to ensure recovery for the investors. That's something I overlooked with Bullet Raja and Happy Ending. I made money, but also made lots of mistakes which proved costly in the long run.You can't be blamed for the ideas but it's a grievous error to go over budget, somebody has to pay for it," he rues. He's being extra cautious today. Home productions are waiting for a viable idea and a good director and though several announcements have beeen made lately, including Sujoy Ghosh's Devotion of Suspect X, Vipul Shah's remake of the Colin Firth thriller Before I Go To Sleep, Vishal Bhardwaj's Rangoon with Salman Khan's Jugalbandi, Saif insists that they were premature. "Jugalbandi's a nice story and Salman as a producer is a plus, but we're still working things out. Sujoy and I have to decide what to do. Vipul has the rights to a film I really like, but apart from Rangoon, nothing else is signed or rolling. But news leaks out, people do things for various reasons," he sighs.
Rangoon is a role he was offered a few years before and the script has changed much since. "I've done some of my best acting with Vishal and I'm blessed he decided to cast me. At this stage, I hope good directors see some merit in me as an actor," he says.
Bollywood's bad boy at 44, is a responsible man. He points out that he was 19 when he was first written about. "In India, at a certain age, we're prone to excitement, things were a little more wild when I was growing up," he confesses, conceding that his daughter Sara is smarter and more responsible. "Both Ibrahim and Sara are far better behaved than I ever was. This has a lot to do with the way their mother (Amrita Singh) brought them up, which is not to say that my mother didn't bring me up well. But children are like Russian roulette.
Having the best behaved mother can be a recipe for a naughty child and I'm living proof of that," he laughs.
There are two cases pending against him. He's hopeful that they'll be resolved soon. "I was pleased when the judge asked us to mediate. I admit it was bad behaviour which I regret," he says, referring to the 2012-assault case. "It shouldn't have happened, I'm sorry, I'll make sure nothing like this happens again."
And the 1998-black buck case? He reasons that court cases go on so long that you've grown up since, "And you feel silly, it's embarrassing."
These cases led to demands that he should be stripped off the Padma Shri title. Saif confides that he feels he doesn't deserve the honour and his first instinct was not to accept it. "My father thought for a second, then told me he didn't think I could say no' to the Indian government. I wish I'd followed my instinct," he says. "A Padma Shri isn't hauled up for a fracas in a restaurant or bad behaviour."
Talking about the recent demand to withdraw the honour he agrees that there's dissatisfaction over the decision, a feeling that it was a case of nepotism with the Congress government showering undue love on him. "I plead innocence on these counts but I'm embarrassed to flaunt the Padma Shri. I got a letter from the government that the positives outweight this negatives. I can argue that despite my family background, I made my way on my own, created an urban, multiplex hero, but that's pathetic. I only accepted the honour when two-three names in the list of recipients caught my eye. I thought if the honour could be given to them, they could give it to me, too," he reasons.
Today, his priority is his upcoming thriller, Phantom, about an expendable agent on a suicidal mission. That its made by Kabir Khan who gave a Rs 200 crore, Ek Tha Tiger, with Salman in the past, makes him confident: "He knows the territory and the audience. He knows the subject and how to commercialise it." But the 26/11 reference can stir up a controversy. "Rather than borrow an idea from somewhere else, we wove a story around something that happened to our city," Saif argues.
His wife, Kareena Kapoor, has just delivered a blockbuster with Kabir, Bajrangi Bhaijaan which made Saif realise that the Big Indian Hero', from Dilip Kumar to Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan, is one who is selfless in strife, a smile on his lips, a song in his heart and values that come from the soil. "That's what makes the character attractive and heroic. Salman has always been correct in his choices of films, my characters are more urban and selfish perhaps because of the perception that I'm privileged," he sighs, admitting his wife has been more balanced, juggling mega blockbusters with a offbeat films. "We learn from each other, with me doing more learning right now," he smiles. "Kareena's incredible and phenomenally understanding. She's very easy to live with it." He was really young when he had Sara, wouldn't he want to have a child now that he's more settled? "It's something to look forward to but not anytime soon. Sara jokes that I'll go from being a young, cool dad to an old dad," he guffaws. "I don't think I'll win any father's race now."
Anupamaa
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