Saif Ali Khan and director Priyadarshan are collaborating for the first time on the upcoming action thriller Haiwaan, slated to release on September 11, 2026. With Akshay Kumar playing the co-lead alongside Saif, the director has spilled the beans on working with the latter for the first time.
Speaking about collaborating with Saif Ali Khan, in a conversation with Pinkvilla, the director was asked how the actor had approached the character, especially while playing a visually challenged person.
Priyadarshan said, “I found him as a very mature child because he has a lot of questions every time, and of course every actor has the right but the question; the moment it is answered, he just obeys you. After two days, I found that there was no question, so I asked him in the morning, ‘Any questions?’ He said, ‘No sir, now I know what you want to shoot.’ So that actually builds our confidence with each other, and that is the way it went on.”
The filmmaker added, “Saif is too committed. I have noticed one wonderful thing about him, which is very difficult to see today. In between the shots, he only reads books; I’ve never seen him on his phone, and he only reads books in between the shots. Then I found that he’s a voracious reader and has amazing knowledge about things around the world. This is something I found very interesting. You can talk to him on many subjects.”
Speaking more about the time they spent together, the Bhool Bhulaiyaa helmer continued, “I could discuss a lot of things with him because I am a huge Pataudi Nawab fan, so I spent a lot of time with him. He also gifted me a nice book with an autograph of Pataudi, so I really enjoyed being with him. I found him a very obedient actor, a little greedy but a very obedient actor, so that is the best part about him. I think he developed a certain kind of confidence in me, which really helped me to take the film forward in a very smooth way.”
Ahead of the film’s release, the makers of Haiwaan had unveiled the film’s teaser, with Saif Ali Khan playing the protagonist, who is visually challenged, and Akshay Kumar portraying a dreaded antagonist. However, more details about the film have been kept under wraps for now.
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