Poor Saif Ali Khan. His first home production, Love Aaj Kal, is almost ready for release.And instead of asking him what it feels like to join the ranks of Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan as actor-producer in Bollywood, people want to know why he took Deepika Padukone in the film instead of, well, Kareena Kapoor — naturally! Not that Deepika and he don’t look good together.
“We do, in fact we suit each other well on screen, and I was happy working with her,” Saif said defensively. “But, yes, on a personal level I missed Kareena... it would have been great to have her in my first film, she knows how I feel about this because we have talked about it.”
The story goes that he was shooting Tashan with Kareena and just getting to know her when Imtiaz Ali came to discuss Love Aaj Kal with Saif. Kareena had done Jab We Met with the director and encouraged Saif to work with him.
“For various reasons in the script, a love story sounded good for my first film, but Bebo and I were just seeing each other,” he said. “Today it’s different, so much has changed, and we are practically married. Also, as actors we support each other — we know how much our careers mean, we are now family. But back then I had to make a choice.
And I was disturbed. Be true to the profession or my personal life? Some decisions you make from the head, some from the heart, some from mixed up emotions. Imtiaz helped me to think like a producer. And when I asked Bebo, who was shooting with Shah Rukh and Aamir, if it was okay to go with Deepika, she said fine. But... I missed her.”
He is too much of a gentleman to get into comparisons between Kareena and Deepika... but Saif as a producer is happy with the performance his leading lady gave him in Love Aaj Kal. “It’s a new kind of love story — of the 1960s and also the MTV generation, touching and with an edge, funny and slightly sad, and Deepika’s performance is great, it’s genuine and fresh,” he revealed.
“This is just her third film. And she’s remarkable, much better than I was in my third film. Our chemistry in the film is difficult to understand. Let the audience decide whether it’s there or not. The film’s shot in San Francisco, London, Kolkata, Patiala and Delhi. This is the first Hindi film to be shot in San Francisco. And I don’t think London’s ever been shot like this before. There’s no Big Ben, but there’s the Tube, Oxford Circus, the small back alleys, this is like how Ramu (Gopal Varma) would have shot Mumbai.”
You may look forward to the film, but Saif Ali Khan is looking forward to his next as producer, it’s called Agent Vinod... and, yes, it stars Kareena Kapoor — naturally! “I love the title, it may sound cheesy, but the plot is funky, it’s cool... a genuine espionage thriller, I play a RAW agent who saves the country from terrorism and a nuke threat,” he said. “It’s not a Bond film, there’s no Vodka Martini and that kind of vibe... nor really the John Le Carre story about a spy who came in from the cold because people would rather watch Jason Bourne now. But Agent Vinod is lethal, he’s dangerous and attractive... and I can’t wait for Kareena to be a part of the production! Your personal life does come before your career in many ways. Ask me — I know!”
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