Saif Ali Khan reflects on near-death attack, career-defining role in 'Haiwaan'

Reflecting on a Near-Death Experience

Saif Ali Khan sits in the study of his Mumbai home, the same residence where a violent intruder broke in on January 16, 2025, stabbing him six times in a harrowing confrontation around 2:30 a.m. Two of those wounds were deep, including one near his spine that required surgeons at Lilavati Hospital to remove a 2.5-inch knife during emergency surgery. After five days in ICU observation, he was discharged on January 21. Today, months removed from that brush with mortality, the National Award-winning actor appears remarkably composed as he prepares for the September 10 UAE release of Haiwaan, calling it possibly the most interesting film of his career.

The room is intimate, decorated with family photographs capturing moments with his wife, actor Kareena Kapoor Khan, and their children. Before discussing cinema, Khan meticulously adjusts the lighting with the camera crew, ensuring every detail meets his exacting standards. He speaks freely about recent family outings, including taking his sons to an AC/DC concert, and laughs at the absurdity of modern celebrity culture's obsession with airport fashion.

Taking on a Challenging Role in Haiwaan

When conversation turns to his new project, Khan's enthusiasm is palpable. In director Priyadarshan's Haiwaan, he portrays a visually impaired protagonist who protects children through music and martial arts, a remake of the 2016 Malayalam blockbuster Oppam that starred Mohanlal. The original film, released on September 8, 2016, earned over ₹52 crore worldwide and became the third highest-grossing Malayalam film at that time, marking a significant comeback for Priyadarshan after five consecutive box office failures. The story, based on a short story by Govind Vijayan that Mohanlal himself recommended to Priyadarshan, centers on Jayaraman, an elevator operator and caretaker born blind with heightened senses and expertise in the martial art of Kalaripayattu.

Khan harbors no illusions about the shadow cast by the original performance. Mohanlal sir is an amazing actor. I, of course, saw the film when I was offered it, and I saw it a couple of times because I was just amazed by what Mohanlal Sir was doing. He's such a subtle actor, and he's so real. During production, Khan had the opportunity to observe the veteran firsthand when Mohanlal filmed a cameo. He was wearing dark glasses, and the way he adjusted them so you could actually see his eyes, so that you could notice that he is in fact blind was fantastic. Small, small details and the clarity with which he works... Sometimes it looks like he's not doing anything, but it conveys so much.

Learning from Director Priyadarshan

Working with Priyadarshan, who has directed over 95 films across multiple Indian languages since 1984 and is known primarily for his comedy work, proved equally instructive. Haiwaan represents the director's 99th film and a departure into thriller territory.

Priyadarshan sir is very experienced. He's seen it all. There's no kind of praising extra, talking people up, or just that extra hyperbole that we kind of have in our business. He's very kind of slightly old school 70s in the sense that there's a shorthand and there's a nod, and that kind of approval is all you're going to get.

The director's approach demanded immediate instinct over endless preparation.

It suited me to a T. Because if everyone's on the same page and you're all focusing towards the first shot, that's great. You do a bit of rehearsal in your head without overthinking or having the time to overthink it. It's very Clint Eastwood, from what I've heard.

That efficiency sometimes came with what Khan affectionately calls "Priyan Logic." When questioning how his visually impaired character could dance at a wedding, the director responded with an enigmatic anecdote about someone falling from a third-floor building and surviving.

So I said, 'What does that mean?' He said, 'Anything can happen in life. It's very strange. Okay, you just go and do the thing.'

Khan initially attempted removing his contact lenses to authentically portray blindness, but Priyadarshan rejected the approach after viewing rushes.

He said, 'I saw some rushes, and I don't like it. This peering or trying to not see is not working.' Then he gave me this golden piece of direction: 'Open your eyes wide and pretend you can't see.' Instead of analysing and overthinking this, I thought, all right, let's just play it like fun, and let me just pretend I can't see.

Role Reversal with Akshay Kumar

The film reunites Khan with Akshay Kumar, their first collaboration since the 2008 film Tashan. In their 1990s hits like Main Khiladi Tu Anari and Yeh Dillagi, Kumar typically played the serious action hero while Khan provided romantic charm and comic relief. Haiwaan completely inverts that dynamic, with Khan as the grounded protagonist and Kumar as the menacing antagonist.

This film was offered to me by Priyan sir first, and there was no actor in the other role. He said, 'I want you to play this lead, and you're playing the hero in this. And I need to find a very effective villain.' They asked a couple of people who wanted more, or were not comfortable with the particular part, so he was getting fed up. One day he told Akshay on set that this is the trouble he was having casting. Akshay went off to give the shot, came back, and said, 'Well, what if I did it?'

On set, Priyadarshan's focus remained resolutely on story over star egos.

Priyan sir is in charge of his frame and his movie, and he's very true to the world of the film. Luckily, since I'm playing the protagonist and the lead, he is making sure that I am protected and looked after at all times... He's not catering to stars or actors. He's catering to his moment, and that is incredible.

Reflecting on their evolution, Khan adds:

In Yeh Dillagi, Akshay played a more mature elder brother, but I would say that younger guy was the soul of the movie. Akshay always played the tougher, slightly more grown-up, action, and cooler kind of guy. But in this film, finally, after so long, I am playing the mature, tough guy, which feels like a real coming-of-age.

Career Accountability and Future Intentions

Khan takes unflinching ownership of his career missteps in an industry built on deflecting blame.

You're complicit. You're involved. You're the one who said yes. Nobody put a gun to your head and made you. But it seemed like a good idea at the time. I personally think I was miscast in Humshakals because it's not my thing. Whereas there are certain actors who could really pull that off, and you need a kind of commitment and an ability to make people laugh on a very different level, which perhaps I wasn't able to convince myself to do, or wasn't basically good enough in it to do.

That clear-eyed approach shapes his vision for the coming years.

What motivates me is to have something to do, but also something to look back on. I think I'm at a point where you realize you look back a bit, and you look forward... I want films to count, and I want a filmography over the next five years where every choice was intentional, rather than done for survival to pay the bills.

Survival and Perspective

When discussion turns to the January home invasion, Khan's outlook remains grounded rather than fearful. The intruder, identified as Mohammad Shariful Islam Shehzad, also known as Vijay Das, a 30-year-old alleged Bangladeshi national, was arrested from Thane district on January 19. Mumbai Police classified the incident as an attempted robbery.

I wasn't a big fan of security, and I quite liked an open thing. But you have to understand my takeaway is that there's a lot of haves and have-nots in the world, and you should not tempt fate. So you have to lock the doors, you have to put away the valuables, and you have to understand how lucky you are and how unlucky most people are.

His response to facing extreme danger was surprisingly serene.

I just feel it's very lucky. I remember thinking at one point that this might be it, but I also remember thinking it's been an amazing life, and I think an amazing ride... I tell you, I was quite happy, and I thought, 'My God! I just remember feeling it's been amazing. Absolutely amazing.'

For Khan, avoiding burnout means stepping away from the industry whenever cameras stop.

It's the balance, right? You say, 'Okay, I don't want to just do this all the time.' I get annoyed with the same feeling of hairspray, the sound of the hairdryer, and that vibe of getting made up. You can do it for a while, but then you need to cut off... I find it refreshing. If I start doing the same thing on holiday, meeting similar people, then I feel I've not culturally expanded.

Yet the pull of his craft remains as powerful as ever.

That feeling when a director puts up a shot, a DOP lights you a certain way, you've got these lines, and there's this moment you have to do—it's still intoxicating to me. So if you say what keeps you going, it's a kind of addiction to that feeling. The combination of the camera, the lights, and the material... that's what hooks us all and keeps us going. It's not really working for the paycheck. It's that feeling that you're after.

Haiwaan releases in UAE cinemas on September 10, with the theatrical release scheduled for September 11, 2026. The film marks the 99th directorial effort by Priyadarshan and also serves as the final film appearance of veteran actor Asrani, who passed away in October 2025.