I Didn’t Bribe The Government: Saif Ali Khan Shuts Down Haters Who Said He Bought Padma Shri

Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan may be the Nawab of the Pataudi Palace, but he’s always been known for his charm and nawabi andaaz. The actor was felicitated with the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award, in 2010 for his contribution in the field of art. However, Saif recently revealed that he wanted to return the award to the Indian government because he felt he didn’t deserve it.

Saif Ali Khan recently made an appearance on Arbaaz Khan’s chat show Pinch, where he was taken through mean tweets that he has received on social media. One of the tweets read, “This two-bit thug who bought a Padma Shri, named his son Taimur and beat up some people in a restaurant. He can hardly act.”

Source: Instagram

The Omkara actor has always maintained dignified silence and not given the trolls much attention, but he had the best response to this particular hater, “Two-bit thug, I’m not… Bought a Padma Shri is also not possible. It is beyond me to bribe the Indian government. You will have to ask more senior people. But I thought I don’t want to accept it. There are so many senior actors in the industry who deserved it even more than me, and had not gotten one…and it was very embarrassing. And of course, there are some people who have it, I feel deserve it less than me also.”

Saif had made his mind to return the Padma Shri to the government, but decided to keep the honour conferred to him after having a conversation with his father, the late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. “I wanted to give it back. I didn’t want to accept it. My father said to me, ‘I don’t think you are in a position to refuse the Indian government.’ So I said ‘okay’ and I very happily took it.”

He further added, “I look at it in a way that I hope in time…’coz I’m not done yet and I’m enjoying acting, I’m doing fairly well, I’m happy with what’s happening… I hope in time, when I look back and people look at it, they will say, ‘Okay, I think he deserves honour for the work he has done.”

Also Read: 11 Things You Didn’t Know About The Nawab Of Bollywood

Saif also clarified the allegation the troll put on him for beating up people: “This is a very unfortunate incident and there is no excuse for this. Actors, stars have a responsibility to avoid such encounters. Beating up is a bit of exaggeration, it was a scuffle.”

During his tête-à-tête with Arbaaz on Pinch, Saif also had a witty reply to a troll who questioned him about being a nawab. A troll had questioned him on being a nawab and still clinging on to rotten ‘hukumat‘. Saif slammed the troll with his wit and gave the funniest reply ever, “I have never been interested in being a nawab. I prefer eating kebabs.”

On the work front, Saif Ali Khan will next be seen in the second season of Netflix’s famous web series Sacred Games. He also has several movies like Hunter and Jaawaani Jaaneman in the pipeline.

Images: Instagram

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