According to several reports and statements of Saif himself, the director had put a strange condition to him to leave his girlfriend (Amrita Singh) or leave the film, which Saif Ali Khan refused and Kamal Sadana was kept in his place. However, the director rejected these claims and said that Saif was removed due to his irresponsible attitude.
He was also accused of coming drunk on the set, which deeply hurt his initial confidence. Furthermore, due to his education he also had an English accent. He says that due to his long hair and physical appearance, he often had to hear taunts that he looked 'girly' and did not fit the mold of a traditional action hero.
Saif Ali was born on 16 August 1970. Being the son of legendary former Indian cricket team captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and veteran actress Sharmila Tagore, he always had a heavy burden on him from the Pataudi estates and his family legacy. Saif Ali was of very playful nature in his childhood. His early education was at Lawrence School in India, after which he was sent to the prestigious Winchester College in England.
When he stepped into Bollywood in 1993 with films like 'Parampara' and 'Aashiq Awara', his image gradually started developing into that of a 'chocolate boy'. Sameer Moolchandani's character in Farhan Akhtar's 2001 film 'Dil Chahta Hai' made him the biggest star of urban rom-com films overnight.
Despite professional success, one day his mother, Sharmila Tagore, gave him a piece of advice that changed the entire direction of his career. Once when Saif Ali Khan was very excited about going to France to shoot one of his films, his mother told him, “You don't sound like an interesting actor. Why don't you choose something different and darker?”
This one sentence awakened the true actor within Saif and he reached out to Vishal Bhardwaj's 2006 film 'Omkara'. When Saif Ali Khan played the character of 'Langra Tyagi' in this film based on Shakespeare's play 'Othello', the entire industry was surprised.
After 'Omkara', Saif Ali Khan never looked back. He sparked a new revolution in the Indian OTT space by playing the character of Sartaj Singh in 'Sacred Games' in 2018. His brutal incarnation of Udaybhan Singh Rathore in the 2020 film 'Tanhaji' also garnered widespread cinematic appreciation.
Apart from acting, he is also a producer. In 2009, he founded 'Illuminati Films' along with Dinesh Vijan. This production house produced many successful films. Through 'Go Goa Gone', released on May 10, 2013, he gave new dimensions to cinematic experiments by making India's first zombie-comedy.
Saif Ali's film 'Love Aaj Kal' was released on 31 July 2009 and was a hit. 'Cocktail' released on 13 July 2012 and proved to be a hit. At the same time, 'Tanhaji' became a blockbuster by releasing on 10 January 2020.
Saif Ali Khan married actress Amrita Singh in October 1991, from whom he divorced in 2004. Later in October 2012, he married actress Kareena Kapoor. Apart from cinema, he is fond of reading books. In his spare time he also likes to play guitar.
When the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri, the country's fourth highest civilian honour, in 2010, Saif Ala Khan wanted to return it. He humbly believed that there were many senior actors in the industry who deserved it more than him. On his father's advice that 'no person is in a position to refuse the Government of India', he gladly accepted it.
Saif Ali Khan's major recent releases include action thriller 'Jewel Thief – The Heist Begins' (releasing on Netflix on April 25, 2025) and crime drama 'Kartavya' (releasing on Netflix on May 15, 2026). Apart from this, his much talked about action film 'Devra: Part 1' was released in 2024.