Saif Ali Khan cheers ’impressive transformation’ of Rahul Gandhi in public eye: ‘I like a brave and honest politician…’

Saif Ali Khan lauded Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday for engineering a ‘impressive transformation’ in public perception. The popular Bollywood actor also dubbed several leading personalities — including Prime Minister Narendra Modi — as “brave politicians”. Khan however shied away from declaring support for any party and insisted that he was “not ready” to join politics in the near future.

“I think what Rahul Gandhi has done has also been very impressive because there was a point where people were disrespecting things he was saying and things he was doing. And I think he's turned that around by working very hard, in a very interesting way,” the 54-year-old said at the India Today Mumbai Conclave.

Khan insisted that he wanted to remain “apolitical” in his outlook and eschewed discussion about his personal politics. The Adipurush actor however opined that “democracy is alive and thriving in India”.

“I'm not a politician. I don't really want to be a politician. And if I had strong views, I think I would become one and then share them in that way. I mean, you guys (journalists) are really brave and much braver than me. I'm not looking for that kind of heat. But if I was, then I would go all the way and become. And join a political party. But I'm not ready to do that yet,” he added at the event.

The actor also said that he had become more wary about picking projects in recent years followed controversies around around his 2023 film Adipurush and the OTT series Tandav.

“It's a little unsettling because there was a case and there was some kind of a decision taken by the court that said an actor is responsible for what he says on screen. So technically, if you say something, you could get a case against you, saying you shouldn't have said that, which is a lot of pressure. So you try and tell the producer that, 'listen, if anyone gets in trouble, it's going to be you.' But I don't know how covered you actually are,” he added.

(With inputs from agencies)