Actor Saif Ali Khan, or the Nawab of Bollywood, is the son of veteran actress Sharmila Tagore and cricketer late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, who belonged to the princely state of Pataudi in Haryana. In a recent interview, Saif said that despite being a Nawab, he had to earn back their ancestral Pataudi Palace after his father's death in 2011. The palace had been rented to the Neemrana chain of hotels.
Speaking to Mid-day, the actor opened up about being a self-made actor despite being a Nawab inheritance-wise. "People have a certain fixed notion. For that matter, even [with] Pataudi [palace], when my father died, it got rented to Neemrana Hotels. Aman [Nath] and Francis [Wacziarg] used to run [the hotel]. Francis passed away. He'd said that if I wanted [the palace] back, I could let him know. I said, 'I want it back'. They held a conference, and said, 'okay, you have to give us lots of money!' Which I then consequently earned," he said.
"So, even the house I'm supposed to have inherited has been earned back through money from films. You can't live off the past. At least we can't in our family, because there was nothing. There is history, culture, beautiful photographs; and, of course, some land. It has been a privileged upbringing. But there's been no inheritance," the actor added.
He also spoke about his childhood and moving to the Pataudi Palace after growing up in Mumbai. "I was born and even raised in Bombay. My father lived with my mother in her [Carmichael Road] flat... He had just finished playing cricket. His last Test series was when I was four/five. My mother says he was bunking his responsibilities. His mother was looking after things in Bhopal and Pataudi. She'd got old. So we moved to Delhi to live with her," the actor said.
Saif Ali Khan will be next seen in Om Raut's Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, also starring Ajay Devgn and Kajol. He also recently wrapped up Jawaani Jaaneman with debutante Alaia Furniturewala and Tabu.
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