When Saif Ali Khan recalled being effeminate, shy and nothing like an actor suitable for Bollywood

Saif Ali Khan. (Photo: Yogen Shah)

Thanks to the famous lineage and parentage that Saif Ali Khan belongs to, it is perceived that the actor has lived an easier life than most. Despite the fact that his father Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi was a famous cricketer and mother Sharmila Tagore has been one of the top actresses in Indian cinema, Saif is quite the self-made man. He had turned up as a 20-year-old in Mumbai, living on his own and trying to make headway in his career.

When his father passed away, the Pataudi palace was rented out to the Neemrana group of hotels. Saif later had to buy it back. "Even the house that I am supposed to have inherited was earned back through money from films," Saif told Mayank Shekhar in a Sit with Hitlist episode some years ago.

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"You can't live on the past, at least in our family. There was nothing. There's some history, culture, some photos, and of course some land. It's been a privileged upbringing, but there has been no inheritance," he added.

Saif was born in Mumbai, but he lived in Bhopal and Delhi. "It wasn't a very film-centric upbringing," he said. He even lived with his paternal grandmother in Delhi at one point. Saif says he caught the acting bug in Delhi. "My father sent me to work in an ad agency, because I was partying a lot in Delhi and not doing much. It was a lot of fun."

Saif described his experience of landing his first ad commercial for Gwalior Suitings. "I wasn't a great cinematic figure in front of the camera. I was very effeminate, quiet and shy, which were the worst qualities you could have as an actor in Mumbai, but not bad for a western academic schoolboy... So some quick learning was required," he said.

When he moved to Mumbai, Saif rented a place in Lokhandwala. "It was a small flat with cane furniture. A producer's daughter was kind enough to do up my flat. But one night, I came back home and found her asleep on my bed. She had locked the door from inside. I could see through the gap below the door, she was lying on my bed. I don't know what the plan was, I didn't knock on the door. We went out again," he recalled.