While SRK, Salman & Aamir Were Passing On 'Khan' Baton, Saif Proved To Be A Lambi Race Ka Ghoda

Just like everything else in the world, cinema is also evolving at a rapid pace. What was earlier considered a sure-shot success formula for a particular genre of a movie, it is now declared redundant. From Govinda¡¯s no. 1 series, SRK¡¯s romance sagas to slapstick comedies, it¡¯s hard to gauge what catches the fancy of viewers nowadays.

The popular idiom - excess of everything is bad, has turned true especially in the world of entertainment.

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To be able to maintain credibility and also churn out successful movies, in terms of entertainment and box office money has become a matter of utmost concern for both filmmakers and actors. Come to think of it, back in the 90s when Govinda was the biggest superstar, would you have imagined that he would slowly fade away into oblivion? In a similar vein, the past decade has been a lesson for the Khan trio. From sure-shot successes to questionable movies, it¡¯s safe to say that the mighty has fallen and how.

It¡¯s no longer easy to fool the audience with mediocrity. Cinegoers have raised the bar and it takes blood, sweat and tears to impress them now.

Now, amid all this, have you ever wondered about the underdogs in the industry? Actors who aren¡¯t given their due? More often than not, a lot of us end up having discussions about how some actors are underrated and should be seen more frequently on the silver screen. One such well-deserving actor is Saif Ali Khan.

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In the Hindi film industry where Khan clan comprises of three big names namely Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir, we have somehow forgotten that the one Khan who wasn¡¯t even considered to be in the same league as theirs, is the dashing and uber talented Saif Ali Khan.

It¡¯s only vital that we get to the bottom of this and pay heed to the factors that make him the dark horse of the Khandom.

When SRK was building his Badshah stature, Salman was becoming Dabangg Khan and Aamir was chasing perfection, Saif was busy experimenting no matter what the length of the role w.

If we bring their filmographies under consideration, in the 2000s, Saif was unabashedly experimenting with all types of roles with no worry in sight. Be it Salaam Namaste that brought the topic of live-in under the spotlight or doing sidey roles such as a douchey boyfriend in Kya Kehna and a betrayed fiance in Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein.

It was also during this phase when he also gave a scintillating performance in Omkara which earned him a National Award. Kurbaan was another underrated film which was phenomenal. Saif was also the first actor who brought the zombies in Bollywood with Go Goa Gone.

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SRK, on the other hand, was acing the romance genre with movies like Mohabbatein, Veer Zaara, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Chalte Chalte and dramas like K3G, Om Shanti Om and My Name Is Khan among others.

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As we all know, Salman has no conventional genre, his movies reek of his bhai-ness and his loyal fan-following ensures that they watch his kind of cinema regardless. From Tere Naam, Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, No Entry to Wanted, Ready, Dabangg and Ek Tha Tiger, he kept his fans hooked.

Perfectionist Aamir, however, was breaking the barriers and was busy stunning the audiences with unique and never-seen-before movie plots. From Oscar nominated Lagaan, patriotism evoking Rang De Basanti, gripping thrillers like Fanaa and Ghajini to comedies with a message like PK, 3 Idiots etc he managed to build a league of his own.

Unlike his contemporaries, Saif took many risks. He failed at some but that never deterred him from taking more risque projects

While the trio, with no fault of theirs, were contesting the title of Khan number 1, Saif was busy working in silence. From playing a terrorist in Kurbaan, attempting a remake of Jon Favearu¡¯s Chef to doing the first hindi zombie movie Go Goa Gone, he did it all. Even his recent outing in Tanhaji won him a lot of accolades for portraying Udhay Bhan Singh Rathore.

Playing the main antagonist opposite Ajay Devgn, he won the audiences with his vicious streak. Of course, in no way are we underplaying the trio¡¯s body of work, but a true movie buff will admit to the fact that when it came to experimenting, SRK and Salman somehow always played safe. Aamir, however, stuck to his own thing and wowed the audiences with his style of cinema.

When it comes to work or otherwise, Saif Ali Khan is known to speak his mind without mincing words

It¡¯s only fairly recently that many actors have started openly talking about their flaws. Once in an interview, Saif had said:

¡°A film has to be for commercial success as well as earn you respect as an artist. You don't want to do only things that are designed to run commercially, and neither do you want to do things that get acclaim but don't run.¡±

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Without any egotistical air around him, he has openly made fun of his flops. Long back, when the movie buffs where making fun of his biggest dud Humshakals, he stepped forward and admitted that Humshakals was a big mistake. Many a times, he was even written off, where critics and audience suggested he should quit acting altogether but the man didn¡¯t let that affect him. He remained persistent and continued to experiment.

What he lacked in cult following, he made up for it with variety in his filmography

While the trio enjoyed a cult following, Saif attained gratification with a variety of films on his plate. Be it dabbling with OTTs by doing Sacred Games or doing a niche film like Rangoon, the Nawab of Pataudi had no qualms in playing a terrorist in Kurbaan or Langda Tyagi in Omkara. Interestingly, he only chased his own happiness not numbers that came with such roles.

It¡¯s hard to categorise him as an out and out romantic hero or villain.

As for the present, both SRK and Salman are somewhat trying to reinvent themselves, professional life for Saif is pretty much the same as he is busy doing roles that he always does

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After the big duds of disappointments by Khans namely Thugs Of Hindostan, Zero and Dabangg 3, they are quite taken aback to say the least. While SRK has taken a break from signing new projects, Salman is trying to go back to basics by doing a sequel of his superhit film, Tere Naam.

Aamir, on the other hand, is trying his hands at Hollywood¡¯s adaptation of Forrest Gump. Fortunately for Saif, there is no low as he¡¯s been consistent at doing mediocre to great films.

In times like this, the consistent player takes the least hit and it¡¯s the biggies that go into the introspection mode. From bagging critical acclaim for his role in Tanhaji to entertaining the masses with Tandav it won¡¯t be wrong to say that the Nawab is in a ¡®Saif¡¯ spot.