Saifeena say 'Jai ho'
MARK MANUEL , TNN 15 August 2009, 12:00am IST
The wind plucked at their hair and tugged at the flag. But Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor were not letting go of the Indian tricolour.
This Independence Day, they aren't here ' a prior commitment will see them, along with Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif among others, shaking hands, signing autographs and posing for pictures with 50,000 Indians in Chicago. A Meet-and-Greet with Bollywood's big stars has been organised as an Independence Day treat for Indian fans in the US today and tomorrow, in Chicago and Houston respectively.
Tomorrow is Saif's birthday... so it will be a double whammy for old fans and new of the actor-producer who is riding a big high with the super success of his first home production. Before they flew to the US on Thursday night, Bollywood's most photogenic and happening couple waved the flag and said "Jai ho!" to DT readers. They'd have loved to be here today, of course ' swine flu notwithstanding, but the fans abroad have been waiting from ever since...
Kareena is used to the flag hoisting scene. As a child, she would hold elder sis Karisma Kapoor's hand and toddle off to the RK Studios in Chembur in Mumbai where grandfather Raj Kapoor had a ceremony every Independence Day for the children in the family. Holi, rang barse and bhang, Rajji had for the elders! Then, when Karisma entered Bollywood and the sisters stayed with their mother in Lokhandwala, as a girl of nine or ten she used to attend the housing society's Independence Day functions. But for the last five years, now, she has been out of the country on August 15. And while the patriotic surge is there, the ears strain to catch Jana Gana Mana wherever she is, it's not the same as being in India on Independence Day.
Saif, on the other hand, remembers early Independence Days spent at the family's royal seat in Pataudi, Bhopal, where they had their own flag and coat of arms. His father, Mansoor Ali Khan, was the ninth and last Nawab of Pataudi before Indira Gandhi abolished royal entitlements in 1971 by an amendment to the Constitution. The royal flag came down (he remembers it fluttering from his grandmother's car) and the Indian tricolour came up at Pataudi. Today, despite the royal blood, and over Kareena's protests that he sometimes acts like a little angrez, MAK Pataudi's only son is as Indian is his Punjabi lady love. See the pride in their eyes as they wave the flag? That's what we mean.
Seher Hone Ko Hai
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