Speaking English in movies can alienate audiences, says Saif Ali Khan

There is a churning in Bollywood as the industry is becoming better at both content and technology, says actor Saif Ali Khan. “As an industry, we are still developing. Things are getting good with CGI, the kind of films we are making, the roles that we are offered, things are growing. Every day is a new day.

“It was a completely different time in the 90s, but this is more of an international school in terms of performances. Actors are setting new bars,” Saif told PTI in an interview. He cites the example of his last release, “Laal Kaptaan”, which received mixed response but Saif sees the silver lining in the fact that director Navdeep Singh tried to make a different kind of a movie.

“Navdeep Singh made ‘Laal Kaptaan’ and it is an amazing attempt… In hindsight, you can say certain things. I had said that we should have edited it differently. It was a little long and slow but they said no. So sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don’t.” Saif said he would like to be “more commercial” with his next few choices and he is working on that.

He believes that excessive English dialogues in movies can prove to be counterproductive as it might “alienate” the audiences. “We should entertain the audience. We should not speak the wrong language. I believe sometimes speaking English can alienate the audiences. “Like, ‘Chef’ was a very European movie in terms of its grammar and so is ‘Happy Ending’, you do not have the right ingredients for a commercial Hindi film. There are some people who can’t do the kind of films I have done. I do enjoy the commercial Hindi cinema also. I think I can do it, I would like to do it.”

Up next for Saif is “Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior”, which reunites him with Ajay Devgn, his co-star of “Kachche Dhaage” and “Omkara”. The actor is pitted opposite Ajay’s titular hero in the movie. When asked playing flawed characters should worry actors about their image, the actor said, “If we start doing that and start getting concerned then it will completely change what cinema is and you shouldn’t think that. You should not judge your characters, you should just play interesting parts for the art and the fun of it.

“After a point, I don’t think that at all. I don’t think people also think that way. I don’t believe that people think Langda Tyagi (his character from Omkara) is anyway reflected of who I am.” Directed by Om Raut and also feature Kajol and Sharad Kelkar, “Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior” is scheduled to be released on January 10, 2020.

Source: Financial Express