Saif Ali Khan has had a very ‘creative life’

The actor and heir of Pataudi family says he is lucky to have the influences of his father

Actor Saif Ali Khan believes he has led a “creative life”, which has been all about learning and evolving with the times despite the bad start in his career. In the past two decades, Khan has created a versatile filmography – a combination of commercial hits like “Race”, “Love Aaj Kal”, “Cocktail”, “Jawaani Jaaneman” and “Bhoot Police” as well as critically-acclaimed films “Ek Hasina Thi”, “Being Cyrus”, “Omkara” and “Tanhaji”.

At 51, the actor says he is now a more aware individual compared to the “completely clueless” person he was when he made his debut with 1993 film “Parampara”. “I was completely clueless and now I’m a little bit less clueless, that’s the extent of my evolving. I mean, one learns and life teaches you things. If you keep doing the same thing and you don’t change, then you age in a different way. But if you do evolve and if you are learning and expanding, you can be interesting at 50. You have a lot of experience,” Saif said.

Son of veteran actor Sharmila Tagore and the late cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Khan said there have been many “influences” be it his father, who was the son of Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, the last ruler of the princely state of Pataudi during the British Raj, or his mother, who is a member of the prominent Tagore family of Bengal. “I think I’ve done well from the art I’ve collected to the homes I’ve built to the kind of heritage I’ve tried to look after, Pataudi, to the work I’m doing. It’s been a creative life so far, especially with a bit of a bad start,” Saidf shares.

“I think there have been influences that I’ve been very lucky to have like the kind of academic educational influences or even the influences of my father and the legacy of my grandfather, the Tagores. There are a lot of things that come into play in what makes a person.”