Kareena Kapoor had once mentioned to us how her’s and hubby Saif Ali Khan’s tastes in films don’t really match. He, a self proclaimed lover of international films and she slips into the coziness of the familiar and prefers watching old Hindi films. Saif has often in interviews mentioned how he has never been a fan of Hindi films and obviously the sentence will get misquoted easily. As Bollywood has come of age and making relevant cinema more than ever before, Saif explains that Bollywood and Hindi films are work afterall, and he finds it easier to remain cit off once done with his tiring day at shoot.
The Nawab explains, “Yes, I have often said that. And yes, the kind of films we are making are amazing. Bollywood was always somewhere amazing. When we were the Indian Film Industry and Bimal Roy was making films and Guru Dutt was there, we were making great movies. I think in 80s and 90s, there were only stars. But the kind of films one makes, is it necessarily reflective of what the country is going through? Post Socialist India makes a certain kind of films, liberal India will make different kind of films. We are making better films than ever now. Why I don’t watch films is very simple. I think of it as work and I don’t want to comeback home from work and put on a Hindi movie after working for one all day. I love watching television. I live for films. As a kid, I saw every single movie in my video store and there were 5000 movies there. Me and Sajid Khan have that in common that we are the only two people who have seen as many films. He has seen Hindi films. I don’t want to watch it because I want to cut off. I can’t watch a film and enjoy it as a film. I will start going into its nitty gritties, of how it is made and how we should write something out of the box. “
Saif Ali Khan
His affinity towards international cinema is evident but when quizzed why doesn’t he attempt a stint with Hollywood, Saif replied, “Hollywood is a different market. It’s different economics, based on a different things. I am very happy working here. Hollywood is a fair place based on a certain talent. But, I don’t want to leave everything, go there and adapt to a new style of acting. I won’t say it is better or worse, on average it’s better. The standard is very high and everyone mostly is natural. It’s very different to act in English as compared to acting in Hindi. A lot of things have to be relearned. “
Saif’s choice of films are also suggestive that he tries to bring his sensibility of films on to the plate. Some of them work, others don’t but Saif’s tireless attempt to stay true to his taste and his choice of films, and looking to transform a story aptly for the Indian sensibility is quite some hard work.
Happy Ending is one of those cool, fresh, bright romantic comedies and Saif will certainly have a better chance of gloating about it once the film has released.
