The actor tells Gulf News he has become more cautious about locking doors and valuables since the January attack, even as the case against his alleged intruder returns to a Mumbai court today.
Saif Ali Khan says he used to like leaving his door open, figuratively and otherwise. He doesn't anymore.
In a new interview with Gulf News, the actor spoke about how the stabbing at his Bandra residence changed the way he thinks about security, more than a year after an intruder attacked him in the early hours of January 16. "I wasn't a big fan of security, and I quite liked an open thing," he said. "But my takeaway is that there are 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."
That last bit lands differently coming from a man who was stabbed multiple times in his own home. Saif was rushed to Lilavati Hospital after the attack, underwent surgery, and was discharged five days later. He's spoken about the incident before, but this is one of the more reflective accounts he's given of what actually went through his mind while it was happening.
"There are two things," he told Gulf News. "One is that, and emotional dealing with that, which just feels very lucky. I remember feeling at one point that this must be it, but I also remember thinking it's been an amazing life." He added that the memory hasn't faded with time. "It doesn't really leave you. Just how lucky I was, how close it came, how violent that whole thing was and how quick it was."
The case hasn't gone away either. The man accused in the attack, Mohammad Shariful Islam, has approached the Mumbai court seeking to plead guilty, and his lawyer has asked for leniency in sentencing. The court asked the prosecution to respond and pushed the hearing to September 11, which is today. Islam remains the accused. Nothing about guilt or sentencing has been decided by the court yet, whatever his lawyer is asking for.
Saif, for his part, has kept working through all of it. He's currently on screens in Haiwaan, and the film marks his first pairing with Akshay Kumar in 17 years, a reunion that's been generating its own chatter separate from anything to do with the case. It's a strange split screen: an actor talking candidly about the worst night of his recent life while promoting a thriller, in the same week a court decides what happens next to the man accused of causing it.
What the prosecution says in response to the plea request, and whether the court accepts any leniency argument, is still open. That's the part nobody involved gets to script.
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