‘I’ve practically quit smoking and drinking’

DHAKA: Saif Ali Khan, the 42-year-old Nawab of Pataudi, says his calling card even today is that he is a Bollywood actor.

Post the success of Cocktail and his marriage to Kareena Kapoor, he’s in a super-happy place in his career. The Times of India had a chat with the actor, who also happens to be a royal.

‘I’m the Nawab with a Spartan diet. A few years ago, I could put away a few rotis and knock down a couple of drinks without being too conscious. Now, I enjoy the one piece of bread that I eat. I eat it very slowly and have learnt to relish it. I’ve practically quit smoking and drinking, Khan said.

‘It has to be a lifestyle now. Even drinking and smoking have becoming boring and repetitive like all other negative things. It feels great to wake up feeling healthy, awake and alert.’

‘I love waking up in the morning, taking a deep breath, reading the newspaper and going to the gym — as opposed to carrying a hangover right until lunch. That’s horrible. It is nice to let off steam once in a while, but I find myself less involved with people in that sense.’

‘I like staying at home, reading a book, having a chat with my wife, a quiet dinner and going to bed early. I don’t want to drink half a bottle of whisky and look 50 the next day. I have become an anti-drinking, anti-smoking agent.’

About Kareena’s responsibility regarding his quitting smoking and drinking Khan said, ‘No and yes’.

‘Personally, she gives me that sense of well-being. And as far as career goes, I found that I was thinking and talking too much and not really doing enough. I spent three years making Agent Vinod, which didn’t work out the way I wanted it to.’

‘Being a producer is good, but I am primarily an actor and I do not want to lose sight of that. One gets paid for what one is good at.’

BDST: 1502 HRS, DEC 20, 2012
Edited by Robab Rosan, Cultural Affairs Editor, eic@banglanews24.com