Saif Ali Khan is a mood. Easy, relaxed and radiant, his laughter is infectious and his charm feels like a warm hug. His sharp good looks and impeccable manners make you want to envy Kareena Kapoor Khan a bit, but when you hear him talk about her, the longing fondness in his voice will make you go ‘touchwood’.

We were meeting the actor and producer at his cosy office in Bandra in Mumbai on the afternoon of October 24, exactly a year after t2 facilitated a meeting between him and Calcutta boy and costume designer, stylist and fashion designer Roy Abhisek, a collaboration which has now blossomed into a beautiful relationship of appreciation and admiration. The journey started with a phone call from Subarna Ray Chaudhuri to this reporter last October, during Durga Puja. Saif was looking to explore “classic Parineeta-type” designs, said Subarna. The Calcutta girl, stylist and costume designer with films like Parineeta, Lootera, Dishoom, Kick, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and more on her illustrious CV, has had a long association with Saif.

And, it all unfolded like a dream for Abhisek whose label Bohurupi Santiniketan has dressed Saif on numerous occasions in the past year and this shoot was a culmination of our desires. One that has been in the making for 365 days.

There may have been a cyclone warning in Calcutta on October 24, but we felt a tight knot in the stomach too, miles away from the city. As we gathered in his library of an office, the austere-classic space immediately grabbed our attention. Rows of books, memories on the walls, awards and cricket balls, bound scripts on the table, tall windows flooding the room with bright sunshine, a chequered verandah overlooking a busy Bandra lane.

Saif walked in minutes later, hair slicked back and looking handsome as ever. A friendly handshake later, we rolled into our shoot. The knot loosened and slowly disappeared. Saif instantly made us feel at ease, displaying a rare quality of welcoming complete strangers with open arms.

In the couple of hours we spent with him, Saif opened a window to his world for us. And, it felt like a long, deep breath. He guided the #bts team and while talking to t2, thought his answers out, the emotion he felt travelling to his eyes.

Dusk had settled in by the time goodbyes were exchanged. We left savouring his realness and manifesting an encore. Hopefully, in Calcutta. With a cup of tea, on the banks of the Ganges, the setting sun capturing many a moment. Perhaps. Amen.

Excerpts from our chat.

Saif, thank you so much for a wonderful afternoon!

Thank you because exactly a year ago, I just remembered Parineeta (the 2005 film starring Saif Ali Khan and Vidya Balan, directed by Pradeep Sarkar, adapted from the Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay classic) and I wanted to reconnect with my roots. The clothes in that film were so nice, based on Bengal aesthetics. I called Subarna who had done the clothes and styled the whole movie and she put me in touch with you and you put me in touch with Abhisek (Roy Abhisek). So, I am happy to be talking to you and talking about Abhisek and clothes.

Your father, the legendary Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, had a long association with the ABP Group and your mother, Sharmila Tagore is as much a Calcuttan as any of us. Is the city a part of your life in any way?

It’s a huge part of my life. My mother is first and foremost and to the bone, a proud Bengali lady. So, there’s that influence in our lives. And, of course, I have done a lot of work in Calcutta and I love Calcutta as a city. Calcutta is beautiful. It’s got a lot of soul still and I have really enjoyed the movies I have made there and the time I have spent there and I hope to keep going back. Whenever there is an artistic kind of a film, I am not surprised to hear them talk about shooting in Calcutta. My mother just shot a film (Puratawn by Suman Ghosh) in this most incredible house. It is a beautifully shot movie and so much of the film is the house. Even when we shot for Parineeta, the architecture was so much a part of the film.

Sharmila Tagore and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi

I love Bengali art. My flat in Bombay has got a lot of Bengali art in it. I guess it’s in my blood, even though I grew up in the North. I didn’t quite realise how Bengali I am, but other people have told me that certain things are a Bengali trait. The other day I was describing my stomach (chuckles) and what was happening and I was told that’s another Bengali thing! (Laughs)

Jokes aside, this idea of my books and reading and the glasses, there’s no smoking any more, and the kind of artistic influences and interests I have, are definitely from the Tagore side.

Staying with Calcutta, what are your fondest memories?

My grandmother was a strong, typically Tagore lady. We were lucky to do a film like Parineeta. We saw the train station and shot in a train and went around (the city), like the Race Course and many other spots. Cricket is such a strong part of Calcutta also and has perhaps the most volatile cricket stadium (Eden Gardens) in the world, especially during my father’s time... he had great stories to tell about the passionate crowd. I also remember the food, especially street food.

I also have childhood memories from around the Tollygunge Club. Mum’s friends also live there, great patrons of art and someone who was closely associated with Mother Teresa, Sunita aunty (Sunita Kumar). They are very close to us. One of my best friends, Karan Paul from Apeejay (Surrendra Group) is also from Calcutta.

Your royal lineage and Bangliana, where do they meet and how has it shaped you into the man you are today?

This idea of royal lineage makes me quite uncomfortable. If there were royal families today, they would have had to modernise and somehow survive by becoming more relevant and useful to people. So, I don’t think on those terms, but yes, there is a history and a house (Pataudi Palace; Gurugram; Haryana) that is being looked after and supported by the money I have made by making movies.

I guess, they meet right there. The Bengali heritage is so artistic and the other side of the family, the Pataudi’s and Bhopal side (Saif’s grandfather Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi was married to Sajida Sultan, who hailed from the erstwhile royal family of Bhopal), they are both important and they meet in me. Heritage is important and I want to look after Pataudi Palace as a house. If you go there, you’ll see my mother has done a fantastic job of preserving everything.

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi was dapper as ever and Sharmila Tagore is always so graceful. Has it influenced the way you dress?

It had a big effect on how I see things. Fashion and clothes have to start with an idea and that idea must come from somewhere. That is an outlook on things. My father was very well-dressed in the ’60s... nice suits and sharp haircut. The ’70s were generally questionable (laughs) in terms of fashion but he prided himself on being very badly dressed in the ’70s! He went through that phase of ‘I don’t really care’ because that was his upbringing that you can’t care about what you are wearing. He was always striking and charismatic, but never interested in fashion as such (in this phase) .

I think he was less excited about certain things when he stopped playing cricket (his last Test match was against the West Indies at Wankhede in 1975). This is my personal take. I can see it in pictures. In his 60s, he became an elegant patrician — that he was anyway. There was this regal kind of Indian Renaissance in his dressing, in his churidars and kurtas.

The most international thing we can do, I found, is to do things rooted in our own culture. Both my parents were elegant, classic and simple and it did have a profound effect.

Now how you dress is very you, but was there a pressure to conform to the trends of the industry when you started in the ’90s?

There’s pressure to succeed and want to be popular and get along. So, you speak the same language, which was quite a lot of bad language, to be a cool, young hero. There was a certain way we were: collecting flashy watches and smoking cigarettes, but hard-working, trying to be friendly and fit in.

Of course, you try to conform. For a lot of us, Sanjay Dutt was our idol. So, that sets your benchmark. So, I wasted money (laughs) on watches. And, it was a pretty generic style. Tight T-shirt, jeans and boots. I probably still do that. That’s okay, it’s fun.

I have a varied wardrobe depending on what impact you want to give. It has expanded over the years. I also have clothes for different cities and environments, but there is a staple kind of look as an actor, which might be a bit dated and can be polished up a bit, but it’s still jeans, boots and a T-shirt and you’ve got to be really fit. In our kind of weather, however, it is best suited to wear...

...what you are wearing?

It’s so nice and comfortable. Last year, I wanted to wear something for Diwali, and I remembered the Parineeta shoot. Abhisek put together these really lovely clothes that kind of showed off this whole side (Saif’s Bengali roots). Half the things are about knowing what these things are and the material and there’s many more things I got into also because I wanted that very thin muslin to wear, which I keep tearing, though! You do a bit of research and understand our culture a little bit more, what kind of cloth for what occasion. Of course, there is the Pataudi influence. You see some of these old pictures of Tiger’s father (Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi), who was a well-dressed person.... He would wear Aligarh pyjamas with jootis, really simple. He was a sportsman and would carry things off well. I never knew him... he died on my father’s 11th birthday, but from pictures I can figure him out. I can see his sense of humour and his taste through the house he built. It’s an impeccably-planned house, the proportions and architecture. So, I wanted to recreate some of that (style), the classics from my mom’s side and my grandfather’s. Abhisek put all these amazing things together with dhotis. The boys, Taimur and Jeh, also wear dhotis and kurtas and look smart.

Saif was every bit the Bangali babu in this tussore dhoti kurta.

I want to explore more. With time, as we get modern, we forget what the things were, how a sherwani was cut like actually and how the churidar should be and what it should be made of. It’s good to be educated and aware as you can easily wear the wrong thing. Like a Western dinner jacket, until the last thing is put on, it looks incomplete. When it’s complete, it just pops. Abhisek is phenomenal and in touch with his roots and has an artistic mind and he knows how to dress a star. He is bringing the past to the present and it is an enriching experience working with him. Also, because I get to keep some of the clothes! (Laughs) I am joking!

Saif Ali Khan

How old is House of Pataudi?

It’s been six years. More than ever, we are involved with each other. The Myntra House of Pataudi section and us, interact quite a lot right now. We are also growing and trying to come up with things I might personally wear. What could you wear to a nice lunch or look smart at a Bombay dinner, which has a difficult climate. A lot of people come wearing T-shirts and shorts, whereas in Indian clothes, you can look nice and elegant. We are hoping to develop things that people can wear every day. In festivewear, we seem to be doing alright.

When we look at you, there is a sense of ease and clarity in what you want from life now...

I am also aware that as a human being, it’s alright to have desires and to want things. Generally, I am lucky, it wasn’t always like that. People have known me for a while and I have grown up in the public eye. I think happiness is an effort. Most days we are very happy, touchwood, and that is because we have worked hard to make sure that the kids and parents are alright. We have worked hard and don’t owe anyone anything. Somedays I wonder if I could buy a jet! (Laughs)

Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan attend the "Women in Cinema" red carpet during the Red Sea International Film Festival on December 02, 2022 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Getty images

Where I started off from, I never thought I’d be here. So, that’s great and it’s a huge success in that sense. Personally, I couldn’t ask for a better partner. She (Kareena Kapoor Khan; actress and wife) is kind, sorted, patient and while being a star herself, made this home for us and kept us all so happy, these three boys in her life. Peaceful.

We learnt early that reading a good book, cooking a nice meal, watching a good movie... that’s fab.

Finally, what are your Diwali plans?

Earlier we would go to a couple of parties. As time goes by, I am more and more wanting it to be at home. The kids have grown up. This time we’ll have a family dinner, light diyas, say prayers and cook something nice, before taking off for a little holiday, to a beach.