Saif Ali Khan talks Sacred Games, his Netflix debut and his emotionally-complex role.
Read the full Gulf News article:
https://gulfnews.com/life-style/celebrity/desi-news/bollywood/sacred-games-saif-ali-khan-takes-on-nawazuddin-siddiqui-1.2246080
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Read the full Gulf News article:
https://gulfnews.com/life-style/celebrity/desi-news/bollywood/sacred-games-saif-ali-khan-takes-on-nawazuddin-siddiqui-1.2246080
See more at: http://gulfnews.com/videos
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NewsTranscript
00:00Thank you, sir, for speaking to Gulf News.
00:05Always a pleasure.
00:06Thank you for not sanitizing Sacred Games.
00:08Sartaj Singh is quite emotionally complex. We love it.
00:11I did beg them to sanitize the bathroom, though.
00:13We're shooting in a bathroom that I think approximately a million people go through every day.
00:19And Vikram was like, would you mind crawling around the floor while you're getting beaten up
00:23and putting your head in the latrine?
00:25And I said, do you think it'd be possible to just, you know, disinfect it slightly?
00:30Because I might die. So apart from that, nothing was sanitized.
00:34You've been roughed up by both your colleagues and the mobsters.
00:37There's no winning with you, I feel, Sartaj.
00:40I feel it's one of the heroes where it's emotionally complex and vulnerable at the same time.
00:44It was a really interesting arc, you know, because it started off really low.
00:48And it was a bit frustrating, actually, because I wasn't used to playing such damaged characters in that sense,
00:53which was the charm, of course. But, you know, addicted to sleeping pills in order to stay calm.
00:58He made a mess of his marriage, his life, his career is going nowhere.
01:01And his poor fellow is in a really quite a bad place.
01:03And then from there to where he ends up and how he finally becomes a kind of a hero, does the right thing.
01:09There are two words that came through from the book, which I read parts of.
01:14And then I read a short story by the same author, Love and Longing in Bombay.
01:18That's where your character was introduced.
01:20Yes, on what my character's like.
01:22And then there were other parts come through, which are troubled and honest.
01:24So that was the lens with which I approached it.
01:27And wonderfully directed, I think, by Vikram Motwani.
01:30And, you know, it was great fun.
01:33Anurag was telling me he took care of the morally corrupt and Vikram took care of the emotionally complex.
01:38Lovely team. Absolutely. Yeah, that's what it was.
01:41It was emotionally complex and morally corrupt.
01:44I loved Anurag's part. I've never worked with him.
01:46I'm surprised, though, because you've been in the industry for long.
01:49Yes, and he is my kind of filmmaker in many ways.
01:53So who knows? Hopefully in the future.
01:55Did you read the book by Vikram Chandra or did you just base your prep on the script?
01:59You know, I love reading and I wasn't frightened to read a thousand page book.
02:05But I was told there's substantial changes also.
02:08So, you know, I read bits of it and it's beautiful prose.
02:12But After A Point wasn't helping me, you know, find what I needed beyond a point.
02:17So I did stop. But I have read it. I'm familiar with what it is.
02:20The series is also a portrait of modern India, where a city is rotting really.
02:24If you look at it, religion plays an important role.
02:26Did you have any reservations about playing a role that could have consequences
02:30where people misunderstand it or they don't like the way religion is being used as a tool?
02:34This lack of censorship on our platform is a wonderful thing.
02:38But it's not something we've gotten overly excited about like children and have, you know,
02:41started using expletives or putting too much violence in
02:44or making politically, you know, unsound or slightly irresponsible comments.
02:50So we've tried to just tell an entertaining story pretty much how it is following storylines of the book.
02:56Characters are treated slightly differently.
02:58This is a perfect show, I think, for India.
03:01And I'm really proud that, you know, we're part of this because it's got everything
03:05and the complexities between the underworld and the politicians and the cops and the movie stars.
03:11That's true. The glamour as well.
03:13It's just, you know, everybody knows.
03:15Anyone who's vaguely familiar with the country knows that this is what comes true.
03:19And there's been shows in the past like The Killing that kind of connect all the dots and everything.
03:23This isn't that template.
03:24And I don't think we would have ruffled any feathers with any of the comments that we've made.
03:30And how fascinated were you by Nawazuddin's character?
03:33Because, you know, I want to root for both of you.
03:35But somewhere along the way, I think I'm leaning towards now with his character.
03:38And he's just so bad that he makes it look so good too.
03:41Well, you know, I think I already said that in the sense that there's something really romantic about playing
03:46or being, you know, this underworld character.
03:49Like the history of the mafia don in India, you know, whether it's Haji Mastan or Dawood Ibrahim.
03:56There's always been these kind of film portrayals that have engaged and entertained people.
04:01And Nawaz has an inherent class, you know, and poise as an actor that makes him really watchable.
04:08He carries himself with the dignity of a prince in this show, you know.
04:12And the fact that he's actually from the street makes it a fascinating combination to watch.