Bipasha finds him cute...
But Saif Ali Khan prefers being called plain handsome. The actor chats about life, and films
Subhash K Jha
The latest world concerts by Bollywood were a disaster. Any second thoughts?
I've always said preparation for these concerts requires as much care as our films and ads. The concerts need to be more exciting. At an average, we attract 5,000 people when it ought to be 300,000 tickets. We should question why that is so. The last time we had a super-successful show, it was with Shah Rukh Khan called Temptations. It was the way he put it together that made it a lot classier than other shows. I think we need to put in more time to prepare for these world tours.
You were offered Feroz Khan's Qurbani, but you refused it.
I think the timing was wrong. My plate is completely full now. Siddharth Anand's film requires all my attention. I met Feroz Khan in Dubai and apologised for not being able to do the film. Besides, Fardeen is a friend, so refusing isn't easy for me.
You're shooting for Siddharth Anand's new film. How's the experience?
It's a Yashraj film, so I can't say much about the project. It's designed to be as widely appealing as possible. Working with Siddharth and Rani Mukherjee is great fun. Siddharth and I have been bonding from the days of Hum Tum which he was associated with. It generally doesn't take me long to decide whether it's right to do a film.
Do you need to lose weight for this film?
Yeah. I've lost some weight due to viral fever. I had recently put on some weight. Now I need a push from the outside to be competitive again. I am competitive in spurts. That's a Leo trait in me.
Have you been very competitive in Omkara?
I accepted Omkara because of the language and the script. I like to do the forbidden. People think that I can't carry off the rustic UP lingo and attitude, so I must prove them wrong. A lot of people feel I can only play the rich, pampered boy. That has fuelled my desire to prove that I can do the unexpected.
Did Vishal Bharadwaj help you?
Oh yes! He taped the dialogues for me. I remember jogging in Switzerland while listening to Vishal's dialogues on my walkman. This role required maximum preparation. After that , it was the easiest role to play. In my other roles all I had to do was to get the clothes and makeup right and then learn the lines. I think he wanted my character to be a wheezing-singsong evil. That was a style I wasn't too comfortable with. I thought it was too slimy. I wanted to have my evil character to have a certain dignity and strength.
Is defiance a strong trait in you?
I don't know…Professionally a lot of my energy emerges in response to the comments of my detractors.
Really?
(Laughs) In Omkara I'm sexy in a different way. I had seen other actors getting their UP/Bihar accents and attitude right. So I thought, why not me? It's not as if my colleagues are from that area. We're all from Mumbai, a city where your language is often corrupted.
Have earlier co-stars and directors been unfair to you?
That didn't matter as much as friends or critics saying I'm not capable of playing the male lead, or that I could just be the comedian or the supporting actor.
You are often compared with Shashi Kapoor.
That's flattering because he's a great achiever in both theatre and cinema. I've nothing in common with him except, as my mom points out, a similar smile. Shashi Kapoor was classically handsome. I am not. But I can be sexy if I want to.
Bipasha Basu thinks you're very cute.
Does she? That's nice, but then this word 'cute' is a very safe one. I'd rather be called plain handsome.
Any last thoughts?
I have to make my own decisions these days about money matters. I never had to do that before. So that's a matter of concern for me. I've to stop being helpless about these things. I'll be 35 in August. It's time I took stock of my accounts.
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