In 1993, a new boy stepped into the Hindi film industry with not just one but two films in his debut year. He was born to veteran actress Sharmila Tagore and cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. With Parampara and Aashik Aawara, he floored everyone with his chocolate boy looks and that amazing voice that was unheard of in Indian cinema. That boy was Saif Ali Khan and today, he turned 51.
Throughout his career, Saif had tried to play diverse roles but it was usually his romantic side that brought in the moolah at the Box-Office. His biggest hits include Yeh Dillagi, Main Khiladi Tu Anari, Hum Saath Saath Hain, Omkara, Go Goa Gone, Hum Tum, Love Aaj Kal and Cocktail. However, as he grew older, his choices changed and as he crossed the 45-year-old mark, he became more confident, bold and experimental in his choices.
In 2017, the actor starred as an absentee father, too engrossed in his job as a chef in the official remake of the 2014 film Chef, starring Jon Favreau. His act as a chef and his struggles as a father were all very relatable. But right after that, he starred as a terminally ill patient in Kalakaandi, who lets loose due to his diagnosis and under the effects of drugs, goes on a wild ride.
Saif's next release of 2018 was the drama Bazaar, where he starred as a Gujarati businessman and he pulled that role with aplomb too. In 2019, Saif picked up his most experimental role yet in Laal Kaptaan. The film might not have clicked with the critics or the audience but niche cinema lovers found his performance revolutionary.
In 2020, Saif returned to playing the antagonist after his super successful stint as the villain Langda Tyagi in the 2006 release Omkara. He featured as Udaybhan Singh Rathod opposite Ajay Devgn’s Tanhaji in Tanhaji: The Unsung Hero, and even though he wasn’t the leading man of the film, he outshone everyone in the film with his impressive acting. He faced comparisons with Ranveer Singh’s spellbinding act in Padmaavat the previous year, but he still left a mark of his own.
But the same month, he also showed his lighter side to the audience as a bachelor in his 40s, who meets a girl in her 20s that turns out to be his daughter. The film did well at the Box-Office and it was his chemistry with the debutante Alaya F that took the cake.
After a gap of over a year, Saif is all set to return to cinemas with three different and diverse roles. First, he will be seen as a ghost hunter in Bhoot Police, followed by his stint as Bunty in Bunty Aur Babli 2 that reunites him with Rani Mukerji. And finally, he will take over the grand role of Lankesh opposite Prabhas in Adipurush.
Saif Ali Khan might have crossed the mark of the half century but even after spending almost three decades in films, he is still finding that zest and enthusiasm to dabble into experimentation and re-establish himself as a leading actor.
Image source: SpotboyE archives
Image source: SpotboyE archives