Saif Ali Khan on stress of his mother and father’ legacy: ‘I didn’t need individuals throwing chappals at me or abusing me’

Saif Ali Khan has been given loads of sobriquets in his profession — the opposite Khan and the fourth Khan being simply the 2 of them. The actor, nevertheless, will not be bothered by any of it. Saif is on a distinct trajectory and maybe having fun with essentially the most fulfilling time in his Bollywood profession. “I’ve never seen the point of doing that,” he says referring to the competitors. “I’m way more successful than I thought I’d ever be. And I’m just happy.” The versatile actor claims to be at a place in his profession the place he can afford to play characters “as crazily and interestingly” as he can with none worry.
Saif Ali Khan has carved a distinct segment and located his consolation zone with the sort of cinema he’s been related to within the latest years. These embrace initiatives as diversified as Go Goa Gone, Kaalakaandi, Laal Kaptaan, and his latest hit Bhoot Police.

“There’s some kind of lack of fear that leads to nice things. I think I’m at a good stage of my career where I’m still enjoying and learning about my work. I have people like Al Pacino as my gurus. He’s my standard of good acting. And I’m still a struggling newcomer. That’s how I see it. But I’m enjoying being one,” Saif mentioned in an unique chat with indianexpress.com.
From catching zombies in Go Goa Gone to catching ghosts in Bhoot Police, it’s been an attention-grabbing flip of occasions for Saif. Looking again on the development, he says with a smile, “Go Goa Gone was made in a very independent film spirit. I literally didn’t get paid for it and they said it is a very bad idea, you shouldn’t be making films like this. But we did and got appreciated. So I think film history is full of stories about crazy people wanting to tell stories, and finding love finally.”

Saif’s character of a ghostbuster in Bhoot Police named Vibhooti obtained a lot reward for his punchlines and comedian timing. Comparing each the films, Saif agreed that it’s been a development in the direction of “coming into the mainstream.”
“Bhoot Police was a more commercial idea, much rooted in Indian culture. It’s a script and a character I was crazy about right from the start. In fact it’s quite toned down. If we make a sequel, which we are planning to, I’d suggest to the writer to bring in some stuff from the old drafts. Contrary to this, Go Goa Gone was a little niche. For me it’s always about how to entertain the audience. Like I saw The Mummy with my wife and son. When you snuggle up while seeing something bit frightening, it’s a warm feeling. And I think that’s the zone of Bhoot Police.”
Saif revealed that his second son Taimur Ali Khan loved Bhoot Police regardless of the scary parts. He added, “Taimur has seen me being excited about the film. He wondered why I came home with that kind of makeup on. He knew what the film was about. Bhoot Police is actually more funny than it is scary. It would be nice if we can make child-friendly supernatural adventure comedies. That should be the genre!”
Saif Ali Khan and Arjun Kapor performed onscreen brothers who run an exorcist enterprise in Bhoot Police.
In a profession spanning almost three many years, Saif Ali Khan has greater than as soon as been known as the “fourth Khan”. He’s even accomplished second-third lead movies like Main Khiladi Tu Anari, Dil Chahta Hai and Kal Ho Naa Ho, till Omkara turned the tables for him in 2006. “Dil Chahta Hai was the third lead. You never know what people will like. I see those songs which Katrina (Kaif) and I did. You have a different energy in your 30s and luckily it worked out. I wanted to do Omkara and things like this. Now the choices are doing something commercial and interesting, along with finding a reality in the performance. Just have the clarity whether you can carry an entire film or not and be brave to choose a path.”
Saif was the primary huge Bollywood star to take the OTT route with Sacred Games (2018). This was even earlier than the Indian viewers acquired used to the streaming platforms. He was additionally seen in Tandav earlier this yr. Sharing his tackle how he noticed the digital area, Saif mentioned he didn’t enter the net as a result of he wished to be the primary. “It’s because I didn’t have that fear of ‘oh is it television or the small screen.’ I understood early that Netflix is a revolutionary idea. Small scale entertainment is less valuable than big screen. Netflix internationally is capable of putting more money into a project than a lot of films, because they want to change that idea. A kid with a phone can have a cinematic experience that’s more intense than a bunch of guys in the theatre. And that’s a crazy idea, that’s what Netflix was trying to achieve, challenge the notion of people.”
Calling Sacred Games “the best and most adventurous piece of writing” he’s ever been concerned with, Saif picked a scene between Kubbra Sait’s character Kukoo and Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Ganesh Gaitonde and mentioned, “When Kukoo reveals her gender to Gaitonde, that scene is so disturbing and lovely. I’ve never seen anything like this in international cinema. I think that’s why we were nominated for an Emmy.”
Saif Ali Khan’s character of Inspector Sartaj Singh was the protagonist of the two-season net sequence Sacred Games. (Photo: Netflix)
Does that imply Saif doesn’t take the “superstar” tag too severely? Dissecting his definition of a celebrity, Saif opined, “My parents were superstars but they didn’t behave like that. And it’s very easy to take yourself too seriously, whether it’s about having a bunch of bodyguards around or that vibe. You can’t blame somebody who doesn’t know any better. You just don’t have to get carried away by success.”
Being the son of yesteryear diva Sharmila Tagore and legendary cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan, Saif was initially pushed right into a bracket with the burden of carrying ahead his legacy. He mentioned the first factor any actor desires to do whereas coming into the showbiz, is to outlive and “don’t want to be laughed at”. And he was no completely different. He defined, “You don’t want people abusing you or throwing chappals at you at Gaiety Galaxy. That’s why you come in the movie industry. I didn’t have the mental approach like my contemporaries. Some were reigning superstars, some are superstars from their first film till now. My doing well or audience liking me has been a mirror reaction to my mental state. I have a very international perspective on things because of my upbringing and education. And a westernised anglicised approach is an opposite of a Hindi film hero. They are not very macho. They are soft spoken. It was a different standard. That was not really settling to me.”
Saif Ali Khan’s Langda Tyagi with Deepak Dobriyal’s Rajju in a nonetheless from Vishal Bharadwaj directed Omkara.

Saif’s decisions could be a reference level for a lot of new age actors, however he mentioned he didn’t take himself too severely again then. It nevertheless nonetheless labored. “When I watch my old films, I think there was a likability. I was trying. You could see there was a lack of inhibition, a decent attractive quality. But I chose the best from what was offered. This was also bread and butter for me.”

Saif additionally revealed pleasure about his upcoming mythological challenge, Adipurush, the place he performs Lankesh (Raavan) towards Prabhas’ Ram. Adipurush is his second costume drama with director Om Raut, after the historic Tanhaji.

“I think Adipurush will be part of cinematic history. And I think Om Raut is K Asif reborn! He’s absolutely passionately insane. But it’s also exhausting with people doing your beard, five people touching you all the time, fiddling with your costume. Sometimes you’re like a piece of meat in front of the camera. I would love to do a film like Vikram Vedha where I can just look like a normal guy. I can’t wait for something like that,” he concluded.
Saif may even be seen in Bunty Aur Babli 2 that’s set to have a digital premiere on Disney Plus Hotstar November 19.