Saif Ali Khan has evolved into a dependable actor. He garnishes his characters with unexpected quirks and imbues his performance with a layering that even his directors don’t foresee. Here’s looking at this underrated actor’s 10 finest performances.
1. Omkara (2006):
Saif Ali Khan as the ruthlessly scheming cow-belt Iago is so authentic you wonder where all that evil comes from! The sweet urban dude is here transformed into a foul-tongued diabolic vermin with not a shred of shame or remorse.Have we seen a more vivid depiction of humanized evil ? I can’t recall a more loathsome creature of self-interest than Saif’s Langda Tyagi. Says Saif, “For a long time I wasn’t ready to play a village role. It daunted me. But the fact that it was Shakespeare egged me on. Iago was not quite on my radar. When it came to me, it excited me. And I think I’ve made something out of it.”
2. Love Aaj Kal(2009):
I remember Kareena Kapoor, then not a Khan, exulting over Saif Ali Khan’s performance in Love Aaj Kal. “Saifu is a killer in Love Aaj Kal. It’s his best performance after Omkara.When you see him as a Sardar, you’ll forget Saif Ali Khan is a Muslim. Everything from body language to beard, trousers and shirt is unbelievable.”
3. Laal Kaptaan (2019)::
The mysterious frighteningly forlorn figure of the Naga bandit played with virulent intensity by Saif Ali Khan. Khan, is a performance that will define his career. If not now, then later. He moves like a bloodthirsty spirit in the quest for revenge . I dare any actor to achieve the level of grueling physical and emotional intensity that Saif has successfully negotiated in this film. Saif’s character is haunted by demons that the naked eye cannot see. As one of his pithy lines, “What’s the work of a wound of it is visible to the eye?. We hear you, Saif. We see you.
4. Baazaar (2018):
Do you remember Harshad Mehta? How could you forget the podgy stockbroker who made thousands of Indians rich overnight and then it all ended in a financial mess in no time at all. Saif Ali Khan’s Shakun Kothari’s destiny run on the same lines. Except that Saif as the wily ruthless Machiavellian stockbroker is everything that Harshad Mehta would have wanted to be. This is Saif’s most gloriously written and airily performed part, meaty witty and wicked. He chews into it exposing a sacred hunger that I didn’t notice in his last over-hyped outing.
5. Cocktail (2012):
While the entire focus of attention was Deepika Padukone’s makeover performance it was Saif Ali Khan who stood out, giving a wickedly roguish performance as an incorrigible skirtchaser who doesn’t mind getting into it (the skirt) while chasing it. Saif played a far from likable character of an untrustworthy partner, son and friend with much relish. He specializes in playing fatally flawed characters who don’t mind falling on their face if that’s what life has in store for them. Don’t laugh. But this role was first offered to Imran Khan. Not THAT Imran Khan.
6. Aarakshan(2012):
In this Prakash Jha’s flop Saif scored very highly in sincerity, subtlety and sheer screen presence. Playing Deepak, a Dalit boy who still irons his own clothes (a bit overdone, the drama of the damned) Saif moves through the motions of social protest and individual outrage with stealth and conviction. His diction and body language are remarkably transformed. I couldn’t see. I only saw Deepak Kumar. In his scenes with the mighty Amitabh Bachchan who plays his mentor Saif stands his ground remarkably well imbuing the conflict with an understated yet powerful sense of social discrimination and protest.
7. Ek Hasina Thi (2004):
As a vile, deceptive man who betrays a woman in love and gets chewed up by a cave full of rats as punishment, Saif made villainy look suave and sinister. Not surprisingly he wasn’t sure how the audience would react to his change of image. But the response to the actor’s relocation to negativity was overwhelmingly positive. Wonder why he never teamed up with director Sriram Raghavan again. Saif would have been the perfect blind date in Andha Dhun.
8. Chef (2017):
Chef Ali Khan! There is a lot of teasing between the father and son, played with endearing casualness by Saif Ali Khan and Svar Kamble. Aptly, Chef teases our appetite for cinema. It’s a culinary delight—warm, tender, inviting and appetizing– served up in a dainty dish with a dash of debonair but played-down posturing, like a masterchef who is shy to show off his skills but can’t help it. He’s so adept at what he does. Chef conveys the kind of sagacious skill born not out of arrogance but wisdom sometimes misplaced. Like the protagonist Roshan Kalra’s traditionalist father who believes the kitchen is for women.
9. Salaam Namaste (2005):
Says Saif, “Salaam Namaste has the kind of energy that I was looking for. You know the kind of frantic energy that teenagers look for. The film exudes a ‘Yashraj’ reality. It didn’t take me long to memorize the dialogues . Salaam Namaste is set in Melbourne in a consequence-free ambience where these two Indians live together. But it isn’t really a live-in… at least not to begin with. The fights that me and Preity have and the dialogues we exchange are so close to home that I went wow when I first heard them.”
10. Parineeta (2005):
Recalls Saif, “The film’s producer Mr Vinod Chopra told me not to do second leads. The next thing I knew he offered me the second lead in Parineeta. So I said I wasn’t interested. But he said he didn’t see me as the hero Shekhar…not enough pain in the eyes. I looked too affluent. But director Pardeep Sarkar thought I could do it. Both Vidya Balan and I were screen-tested. In my arrogance I thought it was only she who was being tested, and ended up doing it quite well. Parineeta made money and my performance was appreciated.”
