Real in the reel
RANA SIDDIQUI ZAMAN
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Change is the only constant in the life of Saif Ali Khan as he gets into the groove with “Kurbaan”, releasing this Friday.
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PHOTO Mohammed Yousuf
A CHANGED MAN Saif Ali Khan.
S uccess comforts. It humbles one too. It often helps one take unsavoury behaviour or remarks in one's stride. A successful actor, constantly under media glare, often forgives the media for its ‘unprofessional' attitude — for he, after all, is a by-product of media hype.
Almost five years ago, Saif Ali Khan, the actor of royal descent, was a different man. One recalls an interview for “Ek Hasina Thi” at his Delhi residence on Kamaraj Road. He wouldn't take dim-witted queries on himself or his films lightly. He would rather pick and choose specific, serious and sensible mediapersons to talk to him first. He would ask the rest to wait outside. He wouldn't even take any noise coming from his home lightly. He would take corrective measures, then apologise.
Cut to 2009, and Saif seems more relaxed as a person and much more successful as well as sought after as a professional. Despite his royal lineage, he hasn't forgotten to be humble, and the awe-inspiring demeanour has certainly been replaced by a visible ‘let it be' attitude. Earlier his stare would freeze a scribe asking a personal question, now even a direct question about marriage and romance doesn't seem to bother him. Meet the new Saif: mellowed, stylish and less wary of frivolous questions.
Dressed in black, accompanied by Kareena Kapoor, Saif appears at PVR cinema in Ambience Mall, Gurgaon, to speak on “Kurbaan”, his film releasing this Friday. He takes in his stride even the carelessly placed lights that shine straight into the duo's eyes, barely allowing them to look at the interviewer. He quietly asks, “Would anyone reduce the lights please, I can't see.” No response and Saif carries on answering ‘personal' questions rather than those on the film with drooping, glare-stricken eyes. While leaving, “Thank you press of the North”, is his subtle way of getting his message across.
Separately, he appears just as humble; addresses the scribes as ‘ma'am' and ‘sir', is attentive to serious questions and parries the perky ones. Defining his role of Eshaan Khan in “Kurbaan”, he says, “I play a temporary professor in Delhi University who falls in love with Avantika (Kareena). She comes to the university from New York to teach. It is a love story between a Muslim boy and a Hindu girl who get married to live in New York but with a twist. The girl later finds that she has married a terrorist who used her as a pawn for his end games.”
No mushy affair
Directed by debutant Rensil d'Silva, a former ad maker, and produced by Karan Johar, the film, assures Saif, is no mushy affair as Karan's other family dramas are. “It's right that Karan's other films have been melodramatic but this time, he has taken a completely different approach. It is more realistic than stylised. It communicates the difference between fundamental and moderate Muslims but at the same time, it is an intense love story. It is generously entertaining but also hard hitting.”
The film's poster has created a furore in Mumbai in which Kareena and Saif appear nude. The Shiv Sena has reportedly sent a sari to Kareena, burnt posters and organised rallies to protest the spread of ‘non-Indian culture'. Says Saif stoically, “We aren't afraid of anything. The poster is shot very aesthetically. I fail to understand the hypocrisy behind such reactions. Our girls wear backless cholis and mini skirts, then why fuss on a poster? It is alarming, but Karan's Dharma Productions will take care of it.”
“A” certificate
The Film's ‘A' certificate doesn't bother Saif. “I am not disappointed. This film is adult and has violence too. My ‘Race' and ‘Omkara' also got ‘A' certificates. But it didn't change their fate at the box office.”
Films made with terrorism as a background often dilute the issue with melodrama as well as repetitive storylines — that of a ‘normal' Muslim killing a ‘Muslim terrorist' to declare his patriotism in public, a friendship sacrificed to save the country, etc. We have films like “Fanah”, “New York”, “Sarfarosh” as examples that ‘distinguish' between good and bad Muslims. Saif argues, “Certain films are treated in a certain way because they deserve to be treated like that. Here, the message is not getting diluted. It asserts the need for change. Whether or not a relationship survives against such a background is the crux of the story.”
Why do filmmakers need to address the issue of Muslim loyalty to the country repeatedly in films? Saif reacts, “It is because Muslims themselves don't speak or come out. It's high time Muslims in certain countries or places stopped being restrictive about purdah, education to women, etc. It's time we discussed these things in open fora. It's time to show that what is understood is often a misinterpreted version. People should be free to interpret on their own and evolve. When such things don't happen, certain films like ‘Kurbaan' have to be made.”
The film industry now works in a way where a production manager takes care of the film's ‘look' and merit comes later. “I would say that film industry is now more organised. With corporate houses investing huge money in it, expect professionalism. We have improved technically and filmmakers like Shimit Amin, Anurag Kashyap and Vishal Bhardwaj are bringing merit and talent too, so why complain?” he quips. “We Indians have a certain way of making films — with song, dance, melodrama — and we shouldn't sacrifice it because ‘others' think it is ‘funny',” he signs off, smiling.
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