Saif Ali Khan

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Saif Ali Khan (born 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor and film producer who works mainly in Hindi cinema. The son of the actress Sharmila Tagore and the cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, he has won a National Film Award and seven Filmfare Awards, and received the Padma Shri in 2010. Over three decades he has moved between romantic comedies, crime dramas and action thrillers, and his recent films include Adipurush, shot in Hindi and Telugu, and Devara: Part 1.

Early life

Khan was born in New Delhi. His father was a former captain of the India national cricket team and came from the family of the Nawabs of Pataudi; after his father’s death in 2011, Khan attended a symbolic ceremony in the village of Pataudi, Haryana, and he has been the titular head of the family since then. He has two younger sisters, the jewellery designer Saba Ali Khan and the actress Soha Ali Khan.

He was educated at The Lawrence School, Sanawar, then sent to Lockers Park School in Hertfordshire at the age of nine, and later attended Winchester College. By his own account he was not academically inclined. After returning to India he spent two months at an advertising firm in Delhi, appeared in a television commercial at a family friend’s urging, and then moved to Mumbai to pursue films.

Early career

His first lead role, in Bekhudi, did not work out: the director replaced him after the first schedule. He made his screen debut instead in Yash Chopra’s Parampara (1993). The same year’s Aashiq Awara won him the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. Through the 1990s he found success mainly in films with several stars, including Yeh Dillagi (1994), Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994), Kachche Dhaage (1999) and Hum Saath-Saath Hain (1999).

Breakthrough in the 2000s

The 2000s brought him critical recognition. His roles in the romantic comedies Dil Chahta Hai (2001) and Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) were widely praised and won him several awards, and he proved himself as a solo lead in romances such as Hum Tum (2004), Parineeta and Salaam Namaste (both 2005), and Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007).

He also took on darker parts: a manipulative businessman in Ek Hasina Thi (2004), an apprentice in the English-language film Being Cyrus (2006) and the Iago character in Omkara (2006), all of which drew critical acclaim.

Commercial hits and streaming

The action thrillers Race (2008) and Race 2 (2013) and the romantic comedies Love Aaj Kal (2009) and Cocktail (2012) were further commercial successes. After a run of films that performed below expectations, he won appreciation for leading Sacred Games (2018–2019), Netflix’s first original Indian series.

Recent films and Telugu work

His highest-grossing releases have been the action films Tanhaji (2020) and Devara: Part 1 (2024). Between them came Adipurush (2023), a mythological film inspired by the Ramayana and shot in Hindi and Telugu, in which he played Ravana under the name Lankesh opposite Prabhas. He had already worked with the director Om Raut as the antagonist of Tanhaji.

Other work and personal life

Khan is a regular television presenter and stage performer, endorses a range of brands, and owns the production companies Illuminati Films and Black Knight Films. He was married to the actress Amrita Singh for thirteen years, and later married the actress Kareena Kapoor. He has four children.

Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.

Saif Ali Khan: quick facts

• Born: 16 August 1970 in New Delhi, to cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore (Wikipedia)
• First film: Yash Chopra’s Parampara (1993) (Wikipedia)
• Awards: A National Film Award for Best Actor and seven Filmfare Awards, the first for Best Male Debut for Aashiq Awara (1993) (Wikipedia)
• Telugu films: Adipurush (2023) and Devara: Part 1 (2024); he works mainly in Hindi films