Saif Ali Khan refuses to play Rishi Kapoor again in ‘Patiala House’

Spicezee Bureau

Mumbai: The hit jodi of Saif Ali Khan and Rishi Kapoor was to come alive in ‘Patiala House’ after their stupendous work in Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Love Aaj Kal’, however the plan has now been foiled. Director Nikhil Advani had been pursuing Saif to repeat his flashback act by playing young Rishi in his forthcoming ‘Patiala House’, but the actor reportedly backed out refusing to do the same act twice. The duo was much appreciated in Ali’s ‘Love Aaj Kal’ and if Advani was to have his way then Saif would have once again done his maverick act for ‘Patiala House’. Nonetheless, the act of playing a young sardarji for Rishi’s character for the second time wasn’t a role appealing for Saif. So the actor voiced his concerns and politely refused Advani. And now it is being known that a theatre actor named Kumud Mishra will play the role Rishi in the flash back scenes of ‘Patiala House’. Commenting on the issue, Rishi told a daily, “I believe Saif refused to do the ‘friendly appearance’. But anyway, Patiala House is looking good.” Nikhil added guardedly, “After Love Aaj Kal we all got excited by the idea of casting Saif as the younger Rishi. But somehow it didn’t work out.” Even though the theatre actor Kumud Mishra doesn’t resemble Rishi at all. “But that’s okay,” reasoned Nikhil, “How much like Rishiji did Saif look?” As to where he got Rishi’s character from, Nikhil revealed, “I was looking at news footage of the 1979 racial riots in Southall and saw this young Sikh. I decided that’s how the younger version of Rishi’s character should look.”