Saif Ali Khan agrees being less successful than Shah Rukh Khan, Salman, Aamir was ‘good’ for him

Saif Ali Khan feels that being less successful than the three Khans -- Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan -- worked in his favour as an actor.

While Saif Ali Khan is one of the most established actors in Bollywood right now, he did not enjoy the same success as the other Khans - Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan. In a new interview, Saif talked about the same and agreed that it worked in his favour, as it gave him not only the freedom to experiment but also to forge his own path as an actor.

Saif Ali Khan in Tandav.

As Film Companion’s Anupama Chopra said that Saif’s relatively less success was a ‘really good thing’ for him as an actor, he ‘absolutely’ agreed. “I have to say these guys - Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir - were kind of born somehow to be actors. I think it must have been a childhood ambition. Certainly, I know it was for two of them. I don’t know if it was Salman’s ambition anyway but he was certainly built for it and made for the kind of success he saw. I joined movies at a time where you got to aim to either be a superstar or not bother. And there’s a point there. It wasn’t really about nuance, different kinds of characters...all that has happened now,” he said.

Saif credited Akshay Kumar for helping him make it in Bollywood. The two worked together in films such as Yeh Dillagi, Main Khiladi Tu Anari and Tashan.

“If I was cute and fun in a lot of movies and I did a lot of work with Akshay Kumar, who perhaps lacked at that point, cute and fun, so we made a kind of super-person and found our way in the industry. I completed him and he completed me. I think that’s why we are so fond of each other till today. We realise we owe each other that, in a sense,” he said, adding, “Usually, a solo successful superstar like these guys (the Khans) don’t need someone to complete them.”

Saif made his Bollywood debut with Parampara in 1993 and has starred in films such as Dil Chahta Hai, Ek Hasina Thi, Hum Tum and Omkara. He was most recently seen in the Amazon Prime series Tandav. His upcoming films include Bunty Aur Babli 2, Bhoot Police and Adipurush.