Nearly two decades after its release, Saif Ali Khan‘s performance in ‘Parineeta’ (2005) is still opening doors for him. The actor recently revealed that this very role landed him a spot in Priyadarshan‘s ‘Haiwaan’, a project he began working on last year. Recently, in an interview, Saif reflected on how some performances have a lasting shelf life, going on to shape opportunities long after the curtains have fallen, while also touching upon themes of insecurity in the industry, and landmark films like ‘Omkara’.
Saif Ali Khan’s ‘Parineeta’ performance lands him Priyadarshan’s ‘Haiwaan’ nearly 20 years later
For Saif, the film industry has a way of circling back to reward good work when you least expect it. “What happens wonderfully is that you do something, and years later it rewards you in another way. I just finished working with Priyadarshan and had the most amazing time. He told me he really liked me in ‘Parineeta.’ That may not have been the most commercially successful film I’ve done, but it resulted in me getting this movie”, he told India Today.
Saif Ali Khan calls ‘Omkara’ a watershed moment in his career
When asked about the films that truly shifted how he was perceived as an actor, Saif singled out ‘Omkara’ as a watershed moment in his career. “Definitely Omkara would be one big one because, luckily, we have a lot of different types of filmmakers under this umbrella called Bollywood, and Vishal Bhardwaj brought everyone together. Omkara was a magical time because there was a lot of positivity, experimentation, and confidence,” he said.
Saif Ali Khan recalls ‘Omkara’ as a melting pot of talent from different worlds
Saif fondly recalled how Omkara was a melting pot of talent drawn from completely different corners of the film world. “You had this mix of NSD actors and more mainstream actors. You had Bipasha Basu doing an item number and playing that part, and then Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ajay Devgn, Vivek Oberoi, as well as Deepak Dobriyal and Konkona Sen Sharma. It was really a coming together of a lot of different worlds,” he said.
Saif Ali Khan on typecasting: ‘Omkara was two different extremes’
He was candid about the rigid boxes the industry tends to put actors in, and how Omkara was instrumental in shattering that image for him. “People tend to typecast you and look at you in a certain way. In our line of work, people can be a bit conservative and don’t like taking too many chances with the personalities they cast. But Omkara was two different extremes — there’s the person who does ‘Hum Tum’, and then there’s someone who does Omkara, which was really good for me,” the actor said.
