‘Saif Ali Khan used to visit Amrita Singh on Raju Ban Gaya Gentlemen set, he’d just been fired from a film’: Aziz Mirza | Bollywood News
Saif Ali Khan dropped a bomb on his family after he married fellow actor Amrita Singh in 1991 following their whirlwind romance. Even his mother Sharmila Tagore got to know after he’d tied the knot. There were rumours that the sudden nuptials caused ripples in Amrita’s life too, as it caused panic on day 1 of the shoot of her 1992 romantic comedy Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman.
Now, in a new interview, Aziz Mirza, director of that film, rubbished these rumours. “Nahi, kuchh nahi hua (No, nothing happened). I don’t think there was any panic. Saif used to come to set. Mashallah, he did very well in life, he was thrown out of a film, I think, HS Rawail. He came to RK Studio and said, ‘I’ve been fired from the film,’ because he turned up late or something,” recalled Mirza.
In the interview with Radio Nasha, Mirza admitted that Saif has come a long way since then. “He’s a lovely chap. He’s made his own career, he’s excellent. He did a lot of good work in a lot of films,” said Mirza. The filmmaker made his directorial debut with Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, which starred Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla in the lead roles.
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Meanwhile, Saif faced a couple of hurdles at the start of his acting career, despite being the son of veteran actor Sharmila Tagore. He was cast Anand Mahendroo after his striking appearance in a TV commercial. He relocated from Delhi to Mumbai for the same, but the project got shelved. Saif then signed producer HS Rawail’s son Rahul Rawail’s film Bekhudi opposite Kajol. After completing the first shooting schedule, he was removed from the film because of lack of professionalism.
Saif finally got his breakthrough as the fourth male lead in Yash Chopra’s 1993 directorial Parampara. He earned the Best Male Debut at the Filmfare Awards next year for Umesh Mehra’s 1993 romantic film Aashik Awara, his first film as the solo lead. He followed it up with hits like Sameer Malkan’s 1994 action comedy Main Khiladi Tu Anari, Milan Luthria’s 1999 action thriller Kachche Dhaage, Sooraj Barjatya’s 1999 family drama Hum Saath-Saath Hain, Kundan Shah’s 2000 romance Kya Kehna.
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Saif met his first wife Amrita Singh while filming Bekhudi. After tying the knot, they had two kids in Sara Ali Khan and Ibrahim Ali Khan, who both eventually became actors. Saif split up from Amrita in 2004, and married Kareena Kapoor in 2012. They’re parents to two sons — Taimur Ali Khan and Jehangir Ali Khan.
