MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan celebrates his 51st birthday on Monday. 

Through his career spanning almost three decades, Saif has worked on a large variety of movies, playing chocolate boy lovers, grimy villains and quirky gangsters. However, for a large part of his career, Saif got stuck in the role of a commitment-phobic manchild, something his critics noticed, as did he.

Saif played such characters in movies such as Kya Kehna, Hum Tum, Love Aaj Kal and Cocktail, among others. 

However, in an interview in 2018, Saif confessed that he too was bored of such roles. On being asked about his opinion on Cocktail, a film that starred him as a 30-something man who did not want to marry his girlfriend (played by Deepika Padukone), Saif said that Imtiaz Ali, who wrote the film, did bring out something new in it despite the often-seen theme. 

Saif revealed that with Agent Vinod, he tried to give a new direction to his career. “I think I had sensed that I need to do something new which is when I was trying to put Agent Vinod together, which didn't work out but it is a well-produced film. If it had worked, it was a good attempt for a guy who does romantic comedies to do something a little more age-appropriate. In your early 40s, you can be an R&AW agent or whatever. I don't know how many times manipulating one's fate actually worked.", he said. 

Speaking about Cocktail, Saif said he thought it would be ‘pretty much the last time’ he'd be doing it. “I felt like I was getting a little bored of that vibe. The soul of the romantic hero is a guy who is confused about his future and is commitment-phobic. I think that's really irritating to the audience after a while. The guy's grown-up…”, Said said. 

He thought about it a bit and quipped, “I've been married twice. Like you're still confused?”. His comment left the audience in splits.

Saif was first married to actor Amrita Singh and had two children with her - Sara Ali Khan and Ibrahim Ali Khan. 

In 2012, he married actor Kareena Kapoor and the two are parents to Taimur Ali Khan and Jehangir Ali Khan.

Saif was last seen in Tandav, the second season of Sacred Games and Jawani Jaaneman, wherein he played a confused manchild once again. 

His upcoming releases include Bhoot Police and Bunty Aur Babli 2. 

Credit: Hindustan Times