Highlights:
- Saif Ali Khan calls doing Cocktail “100 percent” a mistake.
- He says he took the role mainly to ensure the film got made.
- The actor admits Veronica was the more exciting role in the film.
- Saif says he was miscast in Humshakals.
- He believes Akshay Kumar may have been better suited to his role.
Saif Ali Khan is looking back at some of the decisions that shaped his three-decade career, and he is not particularly reluctant to admit when he thinks he got something wrong.
In a recent interview with Gulf News, the actor reflected on his decision to play Gautam in Cocktail, the 2012 romantic drama starring Deepika Padukone as Veronica and Diana Penty as Meera. While the film became a popular entertainer, Saif now sees his decision to take the male lead differently.
The actor said his reasons for doing the film had less to do with the character and more to do with his role as one of its producers.
“I Didn’t Do It for the Role”
Saif was clear that Gautam was not the character that attracted him to Cocktail. He believed Veronica was the film's more interesting part, but because he was producing the project, he felt taking on the lead was necessary to get the movie made.
“I did the part because we were producing it, it was an inevitable mistake, 100 percent that was a mistake, and that was a slightly regressive script choice. Otherwise, it was a breezy fun entertainer,” Saif said.
He explained that his decision was ultimately a practical one rather than an artistic choice.
“I didn’t do it for the role, I did it so the film could get made. You do things for various reasons. I knew fully well that the exciting role is the Veronica part but it’s one of those things you do anyway,” he said.
The admission offers a glimpse into the complications that can come with being both an actor and producer. For Saif, getting the project made appears to have taken priority over whether the role itself was the right fit.
Why Humshakals Was a Different Kind of Mistake
Saif was equally candid about Humshakals, Sajid Khan’s 2014 comedy featuring Riteish Deshmukh and Ram Kapoor.
Unlike Cocktail, where Saif says the problem was largely the role and script choice, he believes his casting was the issue in Humshakals.
“I personally think that I was a miscast in Humshakals because it’s not my thing,” he said.
The actor explained that the comedy required a particular performance style that he did not feel he could deliver convincingly.
“There were certain actors who could really pull that off and you need a kind of commitment and the ability to make people laugh on a very slightly different level, which perhaps I wasn’t able to convince myself to do or wasn’t just basically good enough in it,” Saif explained.
He even suggested another actor might have been better suited to the part.
“I think Sajid expected me to do that stuff…perhaps….like Akshay Kumar could have done it; that was the mistake but I stand by the movie, and I stand by him (Sajid), and of course, we have to all stand by our movies,” he said.
Saif Moves On With Haiwaan
Despite his retrospective criticism, Saif's comments do not amount to a rejection of either film. He maintains that filmmakers and actors ultimately have to stand by the work they make, even when they later recognize where they went wrong.
His next release offers a new chapter. Saif stars alongside Akshay Kumar, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Saiyami Kher in Priyadarshan’s crime thriller Haiwaan, which arrives in theaters on September 11.
The film is an official remake of Priyadarshan’s 2016 Malayalam thriller Oppam, which starred Mohanlal.
For Saif, the contrast is notable: while he is openly reassessing some of his earlier choices, he continues to take on projects that place him in very different genres and roles.
