Saif Ali Khan Remembers His First Day On A Film Set; Calls Dil Chahta Hai A Turnaround

One of the most popular, adored and accomplished superstars of Bollywood, Saif Ali Khan began his journey in the magical land of cinema with Yash Chopra’s romantic drama Parampara in 1993. However, his original debut was supposed to be with Rahul Rawail’s Bekhudi, opposite Kajol. Sadly, the actor was dropped after completing the first shooting schedule as the director felt he wasn’t ‘showing enough interest’, and was replaced by Kamal Sadanah.

In a recent chat with Mumbai Mirror, Saif remembered his first day on the film set. He was shooting the song Mujhe Kya Pata Tera for Bekhudi and was supposed to tear through fake cobwebs singing. He shared, “It was not easy because my expression had to change as I went from “chaahat ki raahon mein” to “kyun itna darti hai”. I might just about pull it off today, but, back then, straight out of a boarding school in England, I was petrified.” The actor went on to add that he must have performed really badly because later the director ‘threw him out’.

Saif feels that he was bad in his debut film Parampara as well and his voice did not help, because back then he did not understand certain technicalities as an actor. In fact, he shared that acting was an ‘ongoing nightmare’ till 2001, when he featured in Dil Chahta Hai alongside Aamir Khan and Akshaye Khanna. The film is considered to be a cult classic and Saif calls it a turnaround, because for the very first time in his career he felt like he could be himself on the big screen.

The superstar also revealed that he was originally offered the role of the younger brother in Race (which was later portrayed by Akshaye Khanna), but he asked if he could play the character of the older brother, which was termed as “not so exciting”. However, Saif felt it was more responsible and hence went for it. He totally aced it too!