Was this a ‘real’ attack? How can someone get into a celeb’s house like that? Why would he need an autorickshaw? Did he really go with Taimur? What, there was a knife stuck in his back and he was still coherent? Arey, if he was injured so badly, how is he walking out like that from the hospital, waving?
Saif Ali Khan got support and sympathy, for sure, but as often happens with him, he got more than his fair share of questions, doubts and scrutiny even after fighting an intruder, getting stabbed, and undergoing extensive surgery. In his first interview after the attack, Saif thanks his well-wishers and also answers the cynics, in his trademark style – with a straight bat. Excerpts:
THE INCIDENT
What happened that night?
Kareena had been out to dinner, and I had some work in the morning, so I stayed in. She came back, we had a chat and went to sleep. After a while, the househelp rushed in and said – ‘There’s an intruder! There’s a guy in Jeh’s room with a knife asking for money!’ It was around 2am, I could get the time wrong slightly, but it was late…
Obviously, I kind of lost it, and went in there to see and I saw this guy holding (what I thought were) two sticks over Jeh’s bed – it was actually a hexa blade. So he had a knife in each hand and a mask on. It was a surreal scene. And something just kind of took over and I just grabbed him. I ran and pulled him down, and then we were wrestling. He was thumping me as hard as he could in my back, and it was just thuds. I thought it was…
‘I saw this guy holding (what I thought were) two sticks over Jeh’s bed – it was actually a hexa blade’
You didn’t realise it was a knife?
I didn’t. It didn’t really hurt because there’s too much of adrenaline and shock at that moment. And then he was slashing at my neck, and I was blocking it with my hand. There were slashes to my palm and my wrist and arm. There was all this violence – slashing with both hands, most of which was kind of defended. And yeah, I fought with him, but I couldn’t handle it after a while because there were these two knives in action. And I was just barefoot, bare-handed in a kurta pajama.
And I was just praying that someone could get this guy off me at this point. And my incredibly lovely househelp (Geeta) pulled him off me and shoved him away. And we both kind of rolled away, and closed the door. And at this point I was covered in blood, and I lost some feeling in my right leg. This was because I had been nicked in the spine, but I didn’t realise that at the time – I thought I’d been stabbed in the leg. I went upstairs to try and find something to fight this guy. Kareena, in the meantime, had taken Jeh out and gone to Tim’s room.
She had taken him out while you were still grappling with the intruder?
Yes. While this fight happened, Jeh was taken out. I remember Kareena screaming ‘Take the kid out!’
Saif: I fought with him, but I couldn’t handle it after a while because there were these two knives in action
Jeh was sleeping all this while?
He had woken up, and seen some of it. I don’t know, you know because I was busy (laughs). And then we all gathered upstairs.
The intruder had escaped by then?
Geeta had held the door shut from outside – so we thought he was locked inside. But he escaped the way he came – though we didn’t know that. He had gone the way he came in – which was up a drainpipe into the kids’ bathroom. I don’t think he knew where he was.
And we all headed downstairs. It was a filmi scene where I was covered in blood and we took two decorative swords off the wall. And that’s what Taimur saw – me covered in blood and Hari, the other house help, holding two swords. So, it was vaguely heroic, at least that moment (laughs). We said – ‘let’s get him’. And Kareena said – ‘No, let’s get out! Because we’ve got to get you to a hospital, and I’ve got to get Jeh out of here because I feel he’s (the intruder) still around, and there could be more of them.’
So then we all went downstairs. Kareena was shouting for a rickshaw, or a cab, or anything. I said, I kind of feel some pain. There’s something wrong with my back. She said – you go to the hospital and I’ll go to my sister’s house. She was making calls frantically – but nobody was up. And we looked at each other, and I said, ‘I’m fine. I’m not going to die.’
And Taimur also asked me – ‘Are you going to die?’ I said, ‘No.’
Was Taimur composed?
He was absolutely composed. He was fine. He said, ‘I’m coming with you.’ And I thought, if something happens… I was getting a lot of comfort just from looking at him at that time. And I didn’t want to go alone.
My wife sent him knowing what he would do for me. Maybe it wasn’t… at the moment, it was the right thing to do. I felt good about it. And I also thought, if God forbid, something happens, I’d like for him to be there. And he wanted to be there also. So, we went – him, me and Hari – in the rickshaw.
The rickshaw guy saw the blood and he knew something had happened. But I think because of the kid, he kind of gave the whole thing some respectability. He saw that we were decent people, somehow. I don’t know how. And he was so amazing – he took a shortcut and took it easy on bumps. He drove me to Lilavati.
THE HOSPITAL
Did you actually walk into the hospital the way the doctor described – covered in blood and with Taimur by your side?
Yes! (Laughs) We just walked into that emergency room. I’ve been there before a couple of times, so I knew my way around. It took them a minute to understand that there’s a celebrity involved and this is a slightly bizarre, absurd scenario. Just took a minute to sink in, you know, that a movie star has been stabbed.
I had a lot of clarity and adrenaline. They brought a wheelchair and I said, no, I don’t think a wheelchair is good idea, get me a stretcher. And I pointed at my face and said – ‘I’m Saif Ali Khan’ (laughs). They did a double take – and then all hell broke loose.
They were very efficient after that. There was a doctor on duty in his blue scrubs and he took some right decisions. Then the head of the hospital came. I really wanted to go to the loo and they said, we’ll give you a catheter. I said, no, no, I’ll walk. They couldn’t believe that I could walk, because they had had a look at the back by then.
Then they said, we have to do an MRI. They looked at my hands, my neck and said it’s all slashed up, but the back is the main issue. So they did the MRI, and somebody took the right call and said, let’s call a spinal neurosurgeon. That was a great move. Dr Dange (Dr Nitin Dange), who had just gone to bed at 2am or something – somebody rang him up, and he rushed to the hospital.
‘It’s not possible to cut somebody’s neck the way my neck is cut, and not kill them’
They said a good three-four inches of the knife has gone in behind the shoulder blade and has worked its way right to the bloody spinal cord. It’s a massive stab and it’s broken off, and it’s nicked the cover of the spinal cord. And there’s spinal fluid leaking out, which is why the feeling in the leg was going. That’s how close it came: Just one more millimetre and we’d be talking paralysis. It’s not like, you know, a back spasm or something that we’re underplaying.
And the doctors did a phenomenal job. It was a major surgery. It took six hours – the spinal thing alone took 2.5 hours. I was under anaesthesia for like five hours or something. It’s pretty big, that’s the longest I’ve ever been in a surgery.
When did you begin to sort of understand that this is serious? When did you first hear about this ‘one millimetre short of paralysis’?
They didn’t tell me initially. They said – there is a foreign body in your back, and we need to get rid of that. I could walk and everything. So I didn’t think it’s very serious.
Then later on, the doctor told me in instalments. He said, ‘Listen, you have lost spinal fluid.’ And there’s still some numbness in my thigh. And two days later, he told me why. He said, ‘I’ve moved all your nerves around.’
It’s been an incredible, like pain-free recovery apart from some muscular ache, which I’m still experiencing.
That’s what gives rise to conspiracy theories that, he was this close to paralysis, how is he then strolling around like this?
Close is close. You’re either paralysed or you’re not. That’s how life is, right? I mean – you’re either hurt or not hurt. There’s 25 stitches here and there’s 30 stitches there. If you start with the two slashes on my palm and my arm – they had both not even cut a tendon. They could have cut the artery and the wrist and the veins, they could have cut… It’s just a miracle that my hands and my fingers are working fine. A guy cuts himself in the palm in the kitchen and then he can’t move his little finger for the rest of his life, you know.
So that’s a miracle. I have like 30 most awful scars running down my neck. I don’t understand how he missed my carotid artery and jugular vein… it’s not possible to cut somebody’s neck the way my neck is cut, and not kill them.
THE COMMENTARY
There has been some degree of chatter about how come nobody drives? Why did it take him two hours to reach the hospital?
Yes, the question was what was he doing for 1.5 hours with a knife in his back? Absolutely not. I went downstairs and out. The first rickshaw was me going to a hospital, and then these guys went to Karisma’s house. There was no lag.
And people on social media asking – arey, such rich people, no driver at home at night?
Nobody stays here all night. Everyone has a home to go to. We have some people staying in the house, but not the drivers. Unless you are going out at night or there’s something needed, then you tell them to stay on.
I would have driven if I could have found the keys. Luckily, I didn’t. I probably should not have wiggled my back much. I’d have driven. I was completely lucid.
And you could not have just called the driver at 3am?
But he could have taken time to come, na? I knew I had to go to the hospital pretty soon.
‘Was he acting?’ ‘Garbage’ – Any responses for this sort of language being used after the attack?
I think it is expected that there will be all kinds of reactions to something like this. There will be people ridiculing it. There will be people not believing it, people making fun of it. And I think that’s fine because it is what gives colour to the world. If everyone had a sympathetic reaction to something, it would be flat and dull. And I expected it, then there is no need to react to it.
And the thing that became clear to me is that there is so much kindness also in the world. There’s so many wonderful people who know how to make you feel better by saying supportive things. From the ward boys and the doctors to the rickshaw driver, they were all just angels, heaven-sent. There is a lot of kindness in the world and a fair amount of stupidity also. But that’s what makes it interesting.
Saif with auto driver Bhajan Singh Rana
THE WALK BACK TO NORMALCY
You had a very lucky day, basically.
It’s beyond. I don’t know what it is. It feels like incredibly lucky. A friend of mine said – ‘Let’s say, you were forced to roll a deadly dice. And you rolled a six.’ I think that’s a good way of putting it because I didn’t want to roll this dice. But it’s like you roll any other number and you’re dead.
But when you walk out of the hospital that casually, it doesn’t look like you had a brush with death.
The instinct was that I’d like to walk out of the hospital. I had walked in also, and I’d like to walk out on my own, and it wasn’t to show off or anything. It was just not to be alarmist and like my father (used to say) –‘let’s just kind of underplay it a bit’.
I never thought about how to present it. The more I consider the PR aspect of it, I’ve come to the conclusion that I think my life is pretty interesting for actually what it is, it doesn’t need a twist. It doesn’t need to be twisted and presented.
So, my thing is that it’s not an exaggerated injury. It’s a miraculous survival. Walking around after that, it’s still painful to stand for too long. The aches and pains are there, but they’re getting better every day. And I think it will be a complete recovery.
How has the family reacted?
The kids are okay, thank God. Jeh has given me a plastic sword, and said, ‘Keep this by your bed for the next time the chor comes’. He says, ‘Geeta saved Abba and Abba saved me.’
Taimur is a little concerned about security. Sara was very emotional and Ibrahim was also very emotional, more than he obviously normally is. He was there and has been spending a lot of time with me.
It’s been really kind of nice for the family to come together (laughs), but also obviously, a bit of a shock for everyone.
How’s Kareena holding up?
She’s doing very, very well. Being very strong. Naturally, a bit shaken and concerned about things like security and that something like this should not happen again.
Does living in Mumbai, or the society you are in, feel unsafe to you now?
I’ve never believed in security. People were saying, ‘Why don’t they have more security?’ I’ve never believed in security. I don’t want it. I never wanted to walk around with three of these guys. I think it would be a nightmare for me. And I still won’t, because I don’t think this is an attack on me. I’m not under threat.
None of us are under any kind of threat. This is a mistake that happened. I firmly believe a guy climbed up a drainpipe and squeezed through a hole and arrived in our house. I don’t think he knew whose house it was. It’s not an inside job. It’s none of these things. And the police have done a fantastic job.
I feel very safe in Mumbai. I think it’s a completely safe city, but yeah, we hear about stuff like this. Like in every other place in the world, whether it’s New York or London or Paris, you have to lock the doors properly and you’ve got to lock the windows. You can’t tempt fate. You can’t leave stuff open. I mean, it’s not some village in Switzerland.
What I am getting from you is that there is no massive sense of a rebooting of life or paranoia. This is not a Monica Seles moment where an assailant with a knife changes your life’s trajectory?
No. It’s not going to change my life and it shouldn’t, because that would be… it would be wrong because, I mean, this is not one of those scenarios. This is somebody who is trying to steal something because of desperation.
Let’s talk about this ‘somebody’. What does the family feel about him? What do you feel?
Taimur said that he should be forgiven because he believed that the guy was hungry. I also believe I would have forgiven him. I feel bad for him – till where that knife comes in and my spine comes in and the fact that he tried to kill me (laughs). That’s where I stopped feeling bad for him. I understand why he did it. But he crossed the line when he went mad on me.
I don’t blame society and I don’t blame the police or Mumbai or anything. I blame myself for not locking that area properly. But I didn’t believe this would happen. I didn’t believe that this kind of thing would happen to us.
This could have gone anywhere.
It’s the best possible outcome – apart from not getting stabbed at all (laughs). I used to have a gun also. Luckily, I don’t have that. I don’t know what would have happened.
Why don’t you have a gun?
I didn’t believe in that anymore. I thought some kid will get hold of it, and then there’ll be other problems.
I mean there are guns around at Pataudi. All the people who have guns – Rajwaras and the Rajasthanis – have been messaging me that they can’t believe that guy got away with it.
My father used to sleep with a shotgun by his bed. But sometimes, I believe accidents happen because there was a gun. Young kids would definitely play with it or God knows what can happen.
So, you haven’t kept any weapons in the Mumbai home?
No, there are no weapons. There are some talvars which are ceremonial and decorative. Some people are now like, you should have protection with you at all times. The world is not safe. Sleep with a gun.
But you still won’t?
I don’t think so. Nothing will change. See, if you start doing that… because I don’t feel I’m under threat. It was not a premeditated attack. I think it just was a burglary attempt gone wrong. That poor guy, his life is more screwed than mine.
So, very cliched question, but if you had to enter that room again, would you have done anything differently?
I would put on the light and firstly tell him, ‘Do you know who I am?’ (Laughs) And I think he would say, ‘Oh shit! I’m in the wrong house.’ And I’d say ‘Right, put the knife down and let’s talk about this’. I think I would have tried to reason. But it was a mixture of anger, outrage and a kind of defense. I don’t know. It was just… it was too quick. And it was completely instinctive.
I’ll tell you something funny – when we were fighting, I hit him as hard as I could with my bare hand on the back of the head. And I thought to myself – that is the most ineffectual punch in the history of punches. This guy is gonna kill me because (he has) a weapon – two knives – and (I’m) a barefooted, bare-handed man. I mean unless it’s a good movie, there is just no contest there.
Amma was very protective: Saif
Did you get a lecture from Amma?
(Laughs) Well, no, she was firstly, very supportive about Taimur being there. I thought she’d be more annoyed about that. But she said – ‘No, what you thought was right and you’ve exposed him in such a different way to so many things’ – that I mean he’s a different kind of kid.
She also completely understood the protective parental instinct. I remember her telling me when I was young that ‘I’ll get in the way if someone ever tries to hurt you’. It had an impact on me. So I guess it’s every parent’s instinct.
And she was very protective. The doctors were worried that there shouldn’t be any secondary infection. So she was making sure everyone wore a mask, including the doctors. So there was a bit of fear of the mother (laughs). She was also very nice. She held my hand and sang me a song, and it was very soothing.
Which one?
I can’t remember. It was a lullaby. That hasn’t happened since I was a baby!