Saif Ali Khan Says He Wanted To Return The Padma Shri Back

Saif Ali Khan

Saif Ali Khan received the Padma Shri for his contribution to the Indian cinema in 2010 and while the ruling government as well as the actor got brutally trolled for the same back then, the actor recently stated that he wanted to return the honour.

Saif recently appeared on Arbaaz Khan’s show, Quick Heal Pinch and spoke about it. Arbaaz made Saif read out a tweet, which read, “This two bit thug who bought a Padma Shri, named his son Taimur and beat up some people in a restaurant. How the hell did he get a role in Sacred Games? He can hardly act."

Replying to his detractor, Saif said, "Two bit thug, I'm not, everything else is true (laughs). No.. 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 people, so many senior actors in the industry who deserved it even more than me, and had not been given one...and it was very embarrassing. And of course, there are some people who have it, who I feel deserve it less than me also."

He revealed that he changed his mind after speaking about it with his father 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."

"I look at it in a way that I hope in time, because 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 'Okay, I think he deserves an honour for the work he has done," he added.

The Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award and we can’t help but agree with Saif that there are certainly more deserving people than him.