Desire to own his work steered Saif Ali Khan towards production

Saif, whose debut home production `Love Aaj Kal` is ready for release next month, feels that the desire to learn the `Business of Bollywood` made him plunge into production.

Mumbai, June 11: Actor-turned-producer Saif Ali Khan, whose debut home production `Love Aaj Kal` is ready for release next month, feels that the desire to learn the `Business of Bollywood` made him plunge into production.

"Now, I want to learn the business that has given me name, fame and money," Saif, who entered the Bollywood with `Parampara` as an actor in 1992, said. Son of cricketer Nawab Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore, the Chote Nawab claims that he decided to be a producer because he wanted to own his work. According to Saif, his interest in production is only in the creative aspects while the business part of "Illuminati Films", his production house, would be taken care by his partner Dinesh Vijan, whom he knew since the time he worked in `Being Cyrus`. Stating that all his successful films have come from big banners like Yash Raj or Dharma productions, the actor, who turned producer after being an actor for 18 years, asserted, "I learnt about production from these companies. Besides, friends like Karan Johar and Farhan Akhtar were also helpful". Talking about the film `Love..` starring himself and Deepika Padukone, he said that the movie has all the ingredients of a commercial potboiler, but the edge and newness in story telling makes it different. Speaking on his double role in `Love...`, Saif said, "It is not exactly a double role. The film`s story depicts two different generations of people in love. I play the part set in the 1960s as well." On comparisons between his Sikh character in the movie and the role portrayed by Akshay Kumar in `Singh is Kinng`, Saif said, "It is an unfair comparison. Akshay`s Sardarji character was glamorous and larger than life. Mine is a genuine, down to earth man". "It is a genuine and honourable representation of the community," he said adding Sikhs would be proud of the character. Saif said he shares an interesting on-screen chemistry with his love-interest Deepika Padukone in the film. "She has a very mature quality. She keeps my personality grounded on screen, just like Rani Mukherji." To a question on what he had learnt to be careful about as a producer, Saif said, "Good food should be provided to the unit and all payments should be done on time." Bureau Report