For an actor who has moved effortlessly between charming romances to playing a menacing rogue, Saif Ali Khan says saying yes to a film has never been about a single reason. Sometimes it’s the director, sometimes the complexity of the role and sometimes it’s the simplest question of all: am I going to have a good time?
Saif admits reality doesn’t always match intention. Not every project becomes what it promises. Which is why his experience working with Priyadarshan on Haiwaan stands out so sharply. Talking about it in an interview recently, he said, "I shot with Priyadarshan and I felt amazing, because there was something to perform every day. There was something in the scene. You could feel it — this is a Priyadarshan film. Haiwaan is the film with Akshay Kumar playing a scary bad guy and me having a very responsible part. I’m playing a visually impaired music teacher, who is the only person who can save this little girl. So it’s a David–Goliath story. There’s action, there’s drama, but every day was something amazing to perform. That feeling of completeness was incredible. When you go to bed the night before and you’re excited about the script and you say, ‘Oh, tomorrow is that scene, and tomorrow is that scene,’ that’s really something special to feel. Once in a while it becomes a job, and you have to be professional about that as well."
For the uninitiated, Haiwaan is one of 2026’s most intriguing films. The Hindi adaptation of the Malayalam thriller Oppam (2016) is all about sharp thrills, cat-and-mouse tension and a pacy plot. Haiwaan is a departure from typical masala remakes and if Saif's excitement is what we go by, we are all seated!