After playing characters with dubious morality in his two films Race and Tashan, Saif Ali Khan is now neck deep in love stories. Screen caught the actor in a tell-all moodEven as I write this Saif Ali Khan is away and busy in London shooting what he terms “a very contemporary edgy love story.” It’s the much talked about film (mostly because Khan’s lady love Kareena was not pencilled in, newbie Deepika Padukone was) for his banner Illuminati Films being directed by Imtiaz Ali. Press for a few more details and you have the star debating if he’d be giving away too much, but he does relent. “It is about the sort of young people who kiss even before they are friends.” You can see that he’s rather taken up with the project because once he begins he is rather informative. “This love story begins at the end — they recall their journey together after they have gone their separate ways,” he gives away. Well, that’s for the reel life love story. The one in real life despite reports of space issues seems to be going well. The It couple is very much together. They just vacationed in Australia before he dashed off to London and she to Bangkok for her performance at IIFA. They will, in fact, start shooting for Rensil D’silva’s film (for Karan Johar’s Dharma Production) later in the year. “We would love to do films together but the film has to support it,” he says earnestly.
Then there is the Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, his second film with Yashraj this year –he stars with Rani Mukerji and they are hoping to recapture the magical chemistry they shared in HumTum. He plays a rich, successful guy with a trophy girlfriend to boot (Amisha Patel) who is handed over four orphans to take care of and an angel (Rani) too! If it was complicated to get the tone, he does not say so. For most part, he used certain prefects from school days and director Kunal Kohli himself as reference points to sculpt a character who is successful and yet aloof. Sympathetic, well meaning even but uncertain about getting involved.
At the time of our conversation, he’s stepped out of an ad shoot — for dandruff shampoo Head & Shoulders. “Thank God, I did not have to dye my hair for the shoot. Normally dyeing your hair is a prerequisite for most shampoo ads,” he trails off before ordering himself a cup of coffee.
And what of the big-budget, mounted like a film, Ponds campaign that he’s shot for with Priyanka Chopra and Neha Dhupia? He gives away the plot for that one too—”It’s a five part series – love story if you will where the dark girl loses out to the fair superstar type and how she changes colours to win him back.”
Here I think it necessary to interrupt and raise objection to such an obviously old fashioned, distasteful concept. Khan is disarming in how he handles criticism. He admits with half a smile that it’s a ‘terrible notion really’ but points out that in most countries populated with dark skinned people, fairness is held at a premium. “These guys do their market research thoroughly before launching a product so there’s obviously a huge demand.”
Fairness cream. A product that panders to the aspirations of the masses. It reflects the actor’s current efforts of moving away from the carefully constructed niche of a multiplex hero and being accepted by the masses. After all, everything is fair in love and war.
