Happy Birthday, Saif Ali Khan. Bollywood's Nawab@47
It's Saif Ali Khan's birthday today
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Actor Saif Ali Khan seems to be ageing like fine wine. His Tashan is getting better with every passing day and as he turns 47, we notice he seems to have it all with a hit acting career, producing credentials, a happy family and royal lineage. Not to forget he and wife Kareena Kapoor Khan welcomed their first child, son Taimur, this December. Congratulating him on his birthday, we take a tour of his life and career, in pics.
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Saif went to school and college in the UK. He then chose to follow in his mother's footsteps and embark on an acting career. The road to stardom was rocky, with Bollywood success coming late to someone who was first considered not macho enough in a generation.
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In October 1991, Saif married actress Amrita Singh, who was much older than him. The union raised many eyebrows in Bollywood. The couple were married for 13 years, before splitting up in 2004. They have two children - Sara and Ibrahim. Sara is prepping for her Bollywood debut.
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In 2007, Saif began dating actress Kareena Kapoor, his co-star in the movie Tashan. In a refreshing change from, Saifeena (as they were branded) made no attempt to hand out the stock 'just-good-friends' line Bollywood couples usually do, and went public with their romance. Saif even had Kareena's name tattooed on his arm.
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But Saif's celluloid story started years before he married Kareena, and it didn't begin well. The young Saif Ali Khan was a far gawkier figure than the stylish sophisticate he is today. In his early films like Aashiq Awara (1993) and Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1993), where he played second fiddle to Akshay Kumar, Saif was gauche and awkward, there was no trace of the leading man he was to become.
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In 2001, Saif made a great comeback with Dil Chahta Hai, directed by Farhan Akhtar and co-starring Aamir Khan, Akshaye Khanna and Preity Zinta. The movie was considered seminal in many ways, and revived Saif's flagging career. There was no looking back now.
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And then, just when everyone felt Saif had found his groove as the urban heartbreaker, he played Langda Tyagi in Omkara (2006). His impressive physical transformation for the role of a rustic strongman was only outdone by his performance as the jealous, bitter, twisted, scheming villain in Vishal Bharadwaj's adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello. The performance was to be indelibly etched into national consciousness, and Saif joined the legion of Bollywood greats.
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Saif turned producer in 2009 with Love Aaj Kal, which co-starred Deepika Padukone. He pulled off a double role as the contemporary young hero in London and the robust sardar from decades ago in small town Punjab. Love Aaj Kal did well at the box office.
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Saif tried his hand in action with spy thriller Agent Vinod (2012), opposite Kareena, but the film failed at the box office. Later, the actor was seen in a romantic comedy Cocktail with Deepika Padukone and Diana Penty. The film was a box office hit.
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In the year 2014, Saif's better half Kareena Kapoor visited the actor in England to make his birthday special by throwing a lavish party at the 600-year-old Winchester College, his alma mater. The year brought in big bucks for the actor. Saif tried his hand at slapstick comedy with Sajid Khan's Humshakals which crossed the coveted 100 crore benchmark. Saif braved the role of a woman along with actors Riteish Deshmukh and Ram Kapoor in the movie.
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Next the actor featured in the role of a writer, Yogi, in the movie Happy Ending opposite Ileana D'Cruz, which also starred Kalki Koechlin and Govinda. While the movie was not exceptionally favourited, the soundtracks from the film like Paaji Tussi Such a Pussy Cat, Mileya Mileya became popular amongst the masses.
