Haiwaan: Why Priyadarshan reminds Saif Ali Khan of his father, Tiger Pataudi

In Haiwaan, Saif Ali Khan upcoming film and a Priyadarshan directorial, sees the actor as a visually-impaired musician and martial arts coach. The actor recently shared why his director reminded him of his late father and legendary cricketer Tiger Pataudi, aka Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.

Haiwaan: Said Ali Khan remembers the similarities between Priyadarshan and his late father

Saif, in a recent interview said how he feels Priyadarshan to be like Clint Eastwood: senior and calm. "He reminds me of my dad. Both were cricketers and both lost an eye, but were great in their professions." The Kartavya actor also shared how Priyadarshan gives just one take, and the actor has to make quick decisions as an actor, and he wraps up the shoot on time every single day.

Mansoor Ali Khan, aka Tiger Pataudi lost sight in his right eye after a severe car accident in London in 1961, when one of his teammates was driving the car.

Following an eye surgery, Pataudi was left with double vision. Just five months later, at age 20, he made his Test debut for India and went on to become the youngest-ever Test captain for the Indian cricket team the next year. He would often pull down his cricket cap over his right eye to block the double vision.

Priyadarshan also, much coincidentally, used to play state-level cricket in his youth and had aspired to become a professional cricketer, but an accident on the pitch left him disabled for life. A cricket ball struck his left eye, forcing him to change his course of career and switch to filmmaking.

The film is also the 7th film of Saif Ali Khan and Akshay Kumar, together, almost two decades after Vijay Krishna Acharya's action-comedy, Tashan.

Saif also shared how Akshay Kumar playing the villain made the project even better. "It's the first time I'm playing a strong, author-backed role in a film with him. He played my elder brother in our first movie together, Yeh Dillagi, and that set the tone for our relationship. We were new, not encroaching on each other, and became good friends. I remember we had a 40-day shoot in Shimla and his Nepalese spot boy would sing Khiladi songs at 6 am outside my room. I wanted to throw things at him because I just wanted to sleep," Saif recalled. He also added that his director Priyadarshan and co-actor and antagonist in the film, Akshay, believed Haiwaan was his best work.

Haiwaan will hit the screens on September 11.

For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.