Saif Ali Khan talks about his old interview which went viral last year
Saif Ali Khan talks about returning to Yash Raj Films after more than an decade and giving his own spin to the role in Bunty Aur Babli 2.
Saif Ali Khan is literally living the royal life. The actor, who is the current Nawab of the erstwhile Indian princely state of Pataudi, has just returned to Mumbai after vacationing at his ancestral house with his wife Kareena Kapoor Khan and sons Taimur Ali Khan and Jeh. “Pataudi is a magical place that simply traps you. It is like Hotel California, which nobody wants to leave,” says the actor adding, “I could spend another month here, but unfortunately I had to come back as I have to go to Kanpur and start my work on the Hindi adaptation of Vikram Vedha (a 2017 Tamil hit film featuring R Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi).”
His latest release, Bunty Aur Babli 2, unites him with Rani Mukerji after 13 years (they last worked together in Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic in 2008) and it also marks his union with producer Aditya Chopra after some disagreements in the past. Saif reveals that Chopra messaged him “homecoming” when he signed the film, “I remember Adi sending me this text when we confirmed the film. There were various reasons that we didn’t work together for more than a decade. I was keen to have a good working relationship with Yash Raj Films again and that was one of the reasons to say yes to the film.”
But the most compelling factor that attracted Khan to work in Bunty Aur Babli 2 was the opportunity to play the character of Rakesh Trivedi aka Bunty who hails from a small town in Uttar Pradesh. “There seems to be a trend to play small town characters. Things are becoming heartland and rural.
Normally I play western urban characters like NRI (non-residential Indian) but I really wanted to explore a small town guy. My instinct said I should also try my hand at it.
It was lovely because Rakesh (in Bunty Aur Babli 2) is packed up with a paunchy, henpecked, bored, senseless guy but he still stays loyal to his wife which is really sweet.”
Talking about getting into the character, Khan explains that he didn’t have to do much. “The idea of playing a character for whom mundan party ka dance is the highlight of his life and who loves to hide and drink whiskey, it was just fun to get these elements in my character and figure out how to play the character. It was lovely to do something different from the usual stuff that I do.”
While Khan steps into the role originally played by Abhishek Bachchan in the first film which was released in 2005, the actor says that the character has very little to do with the original Bunty. “Honestly speaking, Adi called and said, ‘Things aren’t working out and we aren’t able to take the story forward with the original cast. Would you be interested in being a part of this film once they adjust the role.’ And I said yes because he is producing the movie and he knew what he wanted to do with the franchise and once they knew that they weren’t going one way, they took the other route. So it happens and I have a very pragmatic approach towards it.”
Khan, who has been a part of the industry for almost two decades has played a variety of roles, exploring both the hero and the anti-hero in his career.
The actor however wants to do some films which he can watch with his kids, “I was watching The Mummy on a holiday with Taimur and Kareena and the fact that we could all snuggle under the blanket and watch this movie as a family, I realised that it is a big market.
If you can promise that entertainment which isn’t that scary or disturbing and has a little bit of thrill where your kid holds on to your arm a little tighter. So I think I am looking forward to doing nice, sweet family comedy films in the future.”
