Saif Ali Khan On the Trials of Playing a Naga Sadhu Riding a Horse
Saif Ali Khan talks about why he chose to grab the role in ‘Laal Kaptaan’.
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Saif Ali Khan terms his film Laal Kaptaan as an ‘Indian Western’ and says that there’s a different grade of acting required while you are on top of a horse. I spoke to the actor about playing a Naga Sadhu in his upcoming film and about the underwhelming response to the second season of his popular Netflix show Sacred Games.
Hi Saif and welcome to The Quint. I’ve seen all the 3 trailers of Laal Kaptaan, all the three chapters as they are called and it’s quite intriguing, especially your character. I’ll tell you what we could gauge from what we saw and then you can tell me what you can reveal more about the character. One, he’s a man on a mission, it’s a period setting, he’s got this British uniform on, he’s looking out for revenge and he’s got a lot of gyaan about time and death. What else can you tell us?
Saif Ali Khan: Well it’s like India’s first Western. Earlier we’ve seen westerns, we’ve nodded at the genre when we’ve done Sholay and there’s been some bad ones. I haven’t seen Joshilaay but there’s been attempts constantly because of the romance of location, horses and story and buddy movie and all that kind of stuff. But I don’t know for some reason until now it’s not been convincing or proper and I don’t even know if this will work. It’s only now that someone’s come out and made like a Western.
Thematically it’s about a guy who rides into town and you don’t know any thing about him, he’s a good guy, bad guy, sounds like pretty mercenary, is after money and this that but then it turns out there is a darker purpose and there’s something more serious to it and it’s usually revenge and there’s a certain type of genre of the Western which also touches upon the supernatural.
This character is like an Indian superhero but it’s not far fetched in the sense that he’s a Naga Sadhu but he’s a failed Naga Sadhu because he can’t get over the idea of revenge so that’s not detachment. But at the core of it it’s an action revenge drama, set in the Anarchy as William Darlymple calls it, of 18th century India, which is when the Mughal empire is fragmenting and collapsing and different pockets of principalities have power, shifting power, power today, gone tomorrow. It’s got all the elements, it’s got gold and treasure, and it’s like a chase and he’s got to get there before this guy but who is this guy and what does he want so in that sense it’s the first Western we’ve done, Indian Western and I’m just really excited I was part of it.
The whole Naga Sadhu look evoked a lot of interest, was that completely that came from Navdeep or as an actor do you also have your inputs to give. Because I still remember the little pinkie that Langda Tyagi had in Omkaara.
Saif Ali Khan: This is completely the director, all these things are the director’s. I might have suggested wearing a bandana, because during action when you move around it kind of supports the thing. That could have been my only contribution. It took so long to put the props on this guy, like at one point they put me on a horse, there was some shot of some close up we were doing of kind of riding into town when he’s wounded, so there’s blood and these flies would come and then they put a dagger and a gun and sword and then this and that and I was like almost falling off the horse.
Gary Oldman in an interview when he did Dracula said, ‘sometimes the costume wears you, if you’re not careful’ and that’s what had happened to me. So the costume was wearing me and I could barely open my eyes and there was the sun and then you have to say these lines, on a horse, so it was like a joke. I said I don’t think it’s possible, but we did it. There’s a different grade of acting required to do a Western because you got to be on a horse while you are doing it and not galloping or talking, just moving a little left moving a little right or left, right.
From the trailer it appears to be a film like none that we’ve seen in the Indian cinema space. Now that could go in two different ways, looking at your career right now, do you think that’s a rather bold choice to make, rather than go for something that’s probably a little more safer?
Saif Ali Khan: I don’t know, it’s just that somethings are too tempting. And this was a pain in the ass, it wasn’t a normal film. Luckily, there were some nice places to stay, some lovely people, amazing hosts looking after us, but it was exhausting on every every level and all I could think of on the outdoors was Chinese food and whiskey, I said that’s the way I’m going to reward myself, with a 30-year-old Glenfeddich, which is the nicest whiskey I can think of. I love historicals, I love revenge dramas, I love the idea of this kind of mystery character with a twist at the end so it’s got all those elements. This is what commercial movies in my head should be. Well, I might be wrong.
Saif, you are starting in a way your second innings as a producer with Black Knight Films, any learnings from your first phase, or are you just going to go with your gut feeling?
Saif Ali Khan: I don’t know how genuinely interested I am in production actually to be honest. At one point I was doing it and I still do it to look after my own career and get something written for me that’s kind of nice for me. But whether I’m genuinely interested... maybe, but I don’t know frankly right now I’m more interested in acting because I can act and it’s something I’ve been offered and I’m excited about that and being part of different projects. It’s a different energy to actually read scripts and think which film should I make for this guy and how would that be and I don’t want to get into that space yet. So I think I’ve learnt that maybe I shouldn’t do it.
The last time we met was on the sets of Sacred Games - now there’s a perception, because there is no box-office collection, that Sacred Games 2 was received not as much as the first season did. Did you get that kind of feedback?
Saif Ali Khan: Yeah, phrased like a gentleman. The first season was outstanding, it was like one of the best things we ever had. It’s got nominated for an Emmy, it’s a proper show. The second season was a bit of a let down, I was wondering why it’s called Sacred Games, and it’s because there’s that Guru in it, now I know. Now I’m joking about it.
I think people lost a little bit of connect there, I think they wanted a down and dirty mafia show about someone like Gaitonde with a little bit of a twist with his love stories, and like a really nice Kashyap-Motwane kind of mix on what it was and Karan Johar really is like the witch oracle you know because he said in an interview with me he said, someone from Netflix said, is there something you want to tell us, he said, ‘beware of the second season curse’ and I said ‘what are you talking about because our second season is brilliant’, he said, ‘well often it’s not’, he’s absolutely right. So, that’s the thing.
I don’t know why, but it kind of meandered off and the climax, I don’t know if it worked, and certain things weren’t tied up. So it was a little disappointing in that sense but you’ll have to ask them why, maybe it was just all too much, you feel overwhelmed with the amount they had to do or whatever but anyway the first season was really good, so I think overall it was great.
Camera: Gautam Sharma
Editor: Ashish Maccune
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