SAIF ALI KHAN

SAIF ALI KHAN - Film Actor

Saif Ali Khan (born Sajid Ali Khan 16 August 1970) is of Muslim, Pashtun Afghan ancestry through the Nawabs of Pataudi lineage from his father's side and of Bengali Tagore ancestry from his mother's side. His paternal grandfather, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, was the Nawab of Pataudi as well as an accomplished cricketer who played for England and then for India as the captain of the team. His paternal grandmother was Sajida Sultan, Begum of Bhopal and his great-uncle was Pakistani general Sher Ali Khan Pataudi.His father was Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, a former captain of the Indian cricket team and the ninth Nawab of Pataudi until the abolition of titles by India in 1971. Following the death of his father in 2011, Saif Ali Khan was proclaimed the Nawab of Pataudi by the villagers of Pataudi State in deference to tradition, although the title carries no official or legal significance. 

Khan has two younger sisters, Saba Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan. Khan's mother is Sharmila Tagore, a film actress and a member of Bengal's Tagore family. She is the head of the Indian film censorship board and the grand-niece of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. 

Khan initially studied at the Lawrence School, Sanawar and later attended Lockers Park School in Hertfordshire. He then followed in his father's footsteps by attending Winchester College, an independent school for boys in the UK. Khan can speak his native languages of Urdu/Hindi and Bengali fluently, as well as English.

In 1993, he won the Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for Aashiq Awara. His breakthrough role came in 1994 with Yeh Dillagi opposite Akshay Kumar and Kajol which was his first major hit. Khan went on to star in many films but they failed at the box office. He only had success with multi-starrer hits like Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994), Imtihaan (1995), Kachche Dhaage (1999) and Hum Saath-Saath Hain: We Stand United (1999). After some box office failures he had a hit with the film Kya Kehna (2000).

His acting career, more or less, went through a relative slump until 2001, when he was cast in Farhan Akhtar's National Film Award-winning Dil Chahta Hai, co-starring Aamir Khan and Akshaye Khanna. Depicting the routine life of affluent Indian youth, it is set in modern-day urban Mumbai and focuses on a major period of transition in the lives of three young friends. Despite receiving a positive critical reception, it was only a moderate box office success in India; it performed well in the big cities but failed in the rural areas, which was attributed by critics to the urban-oriented lifestyle depicted in the movie. He received much acclaim for his role as Sameer with critic Taran Adarsh calling it his career-best performance. 

He has since had many box office successes, starting with Nikhil Advani's drama Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), alongside Shahrukh Khan and Preity Zinta. The film, set in New York, starred Saif as Rohit, Zinta's best friend, who later realises that he loves her. The film was the second top-grossing film of the year, and Khan's performance was praised by critics. He won the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award among others.

To date, Khan's films have often featured him as the supporting cast, though following the success of Dil Chahta Hai and Kal Ho Naa Ho, producers began signing him on for the main lead. In early 2004, Khan was approached by Sriram Raghavan to star as the globe-trotting bachelor, Karan Singh Rathod, in his directorial debut, Ek Hasina Thi. The film tells the story of a young woman (played by Urmila Matondkar) who meets with Khan's character, and is subsequently arrested for having links with the underworld. When Khan was initially offered the project, he was unable to do it due to his busy schedule. However, when the director approached him several months later, he agreed to do the film. Upon release, the film was critically embraced, with Khan's performing earning praise. For his performance, Khan received nominations at the Star Screen, Zee Cine and IIFA ceremonies.

He followed it with the leading role in Kunal Kohli's romantic comedy Hum Tum. Featured opposite Rani Mukerji, the film follows the encounters of the two main characters until they, after several years and various meetings, become friends and finally fall in love. The film was received favourably by critics and became one of the year's most successful films, with a domestic box office of Rs.210 million (US$3.9 million). Khan played the role of Karan Kapoor, a young cartoonist and womaniser whose relationship with Rhea Prakash (played by Mukerji) changes his perception of women and life. He won the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Comic Role and was conferred the coveted National Film Award for Best Actor in 2005 among much controversy. It marked the beginning of his work with Yash Raj Films, one of the largest production houses in Bollywood.

In 2005, Khan appeared in two movies. His first release was Pradeep Sarkar's Parineeta (2005), an adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1914 Bengali novella by the same name. Prior to being cast, the film's producer, Vidhu Vinod Chopra was initially reluctant in casting Khan as the male protagonist because he felt that "I could not manage it".After much deliberation, Chopra was persuaded by Sarkar who felt that Khan was perfect for the role. The film garnered critical acclaim upon release and Khan's portrayal of Shekhar Rai earned him nominations for Best Actor at a number of award ceremonies. His next release was Siddharth Anand's comedy-drama Salaam Namaste opposite Preity Zinta. Produced by Yash Raj Films, it was the first Indian feature to be filmed entirely in Australia and went on to become the year's highest-grossing Bollywood production outside of India, earning Rs. 570 million (US$10 million) internationally. Khan played the role of the egotistic, laid-back chef, Nikhil Arora. According to Khalid Mohamed, "Salaam Namaste is unthinkable without Saif Ali Khan. He rescues several untidily written scenes with his neat wit and that flustered 'how-did-I-get-into-this-soup?' facial expression." 

He next played the protagonist in the English language art film, Being Cyrus (2006), co-starring alongside Naseeruddin Shah and Dimple Kapadia. Directed by debutant Homi Adajania, the psychological drama revolves around a dysfunctional Parsi family with who Khan's character moves into. The film received predominantly positive reviews, and Khan was particularly praised. Later in the year, he portrayed the character of Iago in Omkara, the Indian adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello. Directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, the film is a tragedy of sexual jealousy set against the backdrop of the political system in Uttar Pradesh. The film premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and was also selected for screening at the Cairo International Film Festival. Omkara was embraced by critics and Khan went on to receive major acclaim earning the awards for Best Actor in a Negative Role at the Filmfare, Star Screen, Zee Cine and IIFA ceremonies; his performance was later included in the 2010 issue of the "Top 80 Iconic Performances" by Filmfare.

In 2007, Khan collaborated once again with producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra in the epic drama Eklavya: The Royal Guard, alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sharmila Tagore and Vidya Balan. Set in the state of Rajasthan during the early years of Indian independence, the movie revolves around a jealous and ungrateful ruler who will not let his wife die in peace because she is uttering the name of Eklavya. Although the film did not succeed at the box office, it was chosen as India's official entry to the Oscars. He next appeared in the action comedy Nehlle Pe Dehlla, a production that had been delayed since 2001. The film garnered negative reviews and poor box office returns. Khan's role was small, and was not well received. His final release of the year was the family drama, Ta Ra Rum Pum. Directed by Siddharth Anand, it went on to become an economic success at the box office, earning Rs. 646 million (US$12 million) internationally. 

Khan received further success in 2008, starring in the Abbas-Mustan thriller Race with an ensemble cast including Anil Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif and Sameera Reddy. The feature was loosely adapted from the 1998 American film Goodbye Lover, and became one of the biggest box office hits in India, earning Rs.617 million (US$11 million) and grossed over Rs. 200 million (US$3.7 million) abroad. This was followed by three projects produced by Yash Raj Films: Tashan, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic and Roadside Romeo, all of which were not successful.

2009 saw Khan branch out into film producing when he set up his own production company, Illuminati Films, along with Dinesh Vijan. The company's first release was marked by the romantic comedy Love Aaj Kal. Directed by Imtiaz Ali, the film portrays the feeling of pure love which never changes over time, although the perspective of realizing one's soulmate has changed. It received mostly positive reviews by critics and became one of the highest-grossing films of the year. For his portrayal of Jai Vardhan Singh and the younger Veer Singh, Khan went on to receive several Best Actor nominations at a number of award ceremonies, including Filmfare. A review in The Economic Times described his performance as "refreshing natural" and "outstanding".He then starred in the dramatic thriller Kurbaan, alongside Kareena Kapoor and Vivek Oberoi. Produced by Dharma Productions, the film marked the directorial debut of Rensil D'Silva and featured Khan in the role of a terrorist. Upon release, Kurbaan was received favourably by critics and Khan's performance was critically acclaimed. 

In 2011, he appeared in Prakash Jha's multi-starrer drama Aarakshan. Set in the city of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, the film deals with the policy of caste-based reservations in government jobs and educational institutions. Khan portrayed the character of Deepak Kumar, a rebellious student who joins the mafia. To prepare for the role, Khan was required to take acting workshops along with the rest of the cast. Prior to its release, the film was banned from releasing in select cities across India due to its controversial subject. While the film received a mixed critical reaction, his performance was generally well received. The following year, Khan collaborated once again with director Sriram Raghavan, as the protagonist in the action thriller Agent Vinod. The film, which was produced under his own banner, opened to mixed reviews and eventually under-performed at the box office.

By May 2012, Khan completed working on Cocktail, a romantic comedy directed by Homi Adjania. Co-starring alongside Deepika Padukone and Diana Penty.The film became a hit with collecting 92 cr. As at February 2013, Race 2, in which he is the protagonist, is being played in cinemas in India and other countries.

Khan married actress Amrita Singh in October 1991. After thirteen years of marriage and two children (daughter Sara Ali Khan born September 1994 and son Ibrahim Ali Khan born October 2001), the couple divorced in 2004. The children live with their mother. 

He then dated Rosa Catalano, a Swiss model born in Italy, whom he met in Kenya, for three years. They were later said to be considering marriage, but then broke off.

Khan had been dating actress Kareena Kapoor since October 2007. Saif and Kareena got married in court on 16 October 2012.

On 22 September 2011 Khan's father Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi passed away, which led Saif to formally assume the title of 10th Nawab of Pataudi. 

In 1998, Khan was charged with poaching two blackbucks in Kankani during the filming of Hum Saath Saath Hain along with co-stars Salman Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam. A lower court charged him with the others under the Wildlife Act and the IPC. He had filed a revision petition before a sessions court which discharged him of Section 51 (causing harm to wildlife) of Wildlife Act and both of 147 (punishment for rioting) and 149 (unlawful assembly of persons) of the Indian Penal Code. The Rajasthan state government then filed a revision petition before the Rajasthan high court which again added Section 149 against him, which it had dropped. The Jodhpur court has summoned him along with all the accused for commencement of the trial with the revised charges on February 4, 2013.