From jokes on his National Award win to his views on intolerance, Saif Ali Khan aces it all

Actor Saif Ali Khan is quite a well-read man in real life and he doesn’t fear from expressing his opinions. So, in a recent conversation with The Indian Express Deputy Editor, the actor beared it all about his thoughts on intolerance in the country, jokes on his National Award win and much more.

Speaking on intolerance, the actor said, “It’s nothing new. The voices that you hear, I think, because of social media have become easy to hear but they have always been there. Things are changing. Everything is becoming a little more right-wing. But that’s not happening only in India, it’s happening across the world.”

He narrated an incident from Paris when he was havijng dinner with an Italian filmmaker. He said, “We started chatting. After a few minutes he said, ‘Oh! You are a Muslim?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ he replied, “Don’t tell anyone! I kind of smiled and thought that this is the prevalent attitude now. I feel it less in my own country than in some places abroad.”

He even discussed nationalism as he said, “Sometimes what goes alongside nationalism is to find something to fight against. That forms a nation together. We just have to be aware that these are the things happening. In fact, it’s been lot less violent and intolerant than many western countries in the same situations. We are still developing and finding our identity… Everything can’t be judged by the same standard. We have modernised due to television and fashion coming in but in our thinking we are still years behind the west. They also went through their times of insane nationalism. They finally came out of it and look more sorted today. So, maybe we also need to go through this. Maybe, we need to stir things up. People need to express their opinions and then get into trouble for that. And one day eventually, find a level. And we are doing that right now.”

Finally, when he was asked about Akshay Kumar’s win at National Awards this year, he said, “There has been an uproar about Akshay’s win at the National Awards. Someone joked if I can get National Award for ‘Hum Tum’, it’s okay for Akshay Kumar to win. A lot of people actually think I won for ‘Omkara’, not ‘Hum Tum’. I take a little offence when people joke about my National Award win.”

Prajakta Ajgaonkar

Passionate about writing, and a Bollywood lover, she is all that is sweet and endearing! She desires to put her best foot forward in everything that she does and loves to help anyone who’s in need.