Saif Ali Khan, who will be seen next in Jawaani Jaaneman, has said that daughter Sara Ali Khan was considered to play his daughter in the film before Alaya F’s name came up. He spoke to Pinkvilla, where he also spoke about studies and career options for son Ibrahim and, life in general, with the younger son, Taimur Ali Khan.
Answering a question if director Nitin Kakkar has Sara in mind before Alaya came into the picture, Saif said, “Yes, see what had happened was Kedarnath had been shelved and Sara didn’t have any other movie. So, this film was around and being a knight-in-shining-armor and a good daddy, I was like ‘would you like to do this?’ She was like ‘yes’ and then Kedarnath was on track, and Simmba fell into place. Then I said, ‘Listen, Sara, don’t do this movie, please tell us if you would rather not because this was a backup for you. I would love to do this with somebody else. You should be working with Ranveer Singh and Varun Dhawan next’ and so she said, ‘okay, thank you. I would like to do that’.
So it was that simple — I didn’t want her to work with me because it gets complicated with family. I mean it is like 3 or 5 films we have been offered together; part of the time, I am not interested in the role, part of the time, she is not interested in the role.”
Saif was also asked about elder son, Ibrahim and what advice he has for him. Does Ibrahim come to him for pep talks? Saif said, “He wants to become an actor. He loves playing cricket and I really thought he wasn’t doing much in school. I used to think he is a naughty boy. But they made him a prefect in school, which is much better than me and he also got some three Bs as a prediction at his A levels, which is much better than me and I think he is going to go to a nice university. So basically, he is much better than me.”
To the question of whether the constant intrusion is affecting the well-being of kids, Saif said, “God knows ya… on one hand, is it such a big deal, someone is just taking your photo? I am just grateful Taimur is not stalking himself on Instagram. He might start… it’s part of our culture, photos turning up and there could be certain vanity in wanting to see them. It is difficult for children to maintain their innocence. But the world has changed, one has to just hope for the best. I don’t know why people are keen on other people’s kids. I have never been interested in anyone’s kid, even if it was the cutest baby in the world… I would never say ‘look at this guy’s baby’. It is a really strange thing to do. It is a bit creepy as well. I have met a guy in the gym who went ‘so cute’ and I was like ‘okay, nice thanks’.
