Mumbai, Aug 16 (IBNS): Bollywood hero Saif Ali Khan and Nepali-Indian actress Manisha Koirala turned 42 years on Thursday.
Saif, who hails from a royal family, is the son of cricketer and last titular Nawab of Pataudi, late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore, a great-grandniece of poet Rabindranath Tagore.
Saif made his Bollywood debut in 1992 with the film ‘Parampara’, where he shared screen with Aamir Khan, Raveena Tandon and Neelam Kothari. The film was declared a flop at the box office.
In between 1992 and 2001, the actor featured in films like ‘Main Khiladi Tu Anari’, ‘Yeh Dillagi’, ‘Bambai Ka Babu’, ’ Kachche Dhaage’, ‘Aarzoo’, ‘Kya Kehna’ and others, but was never praised for his performance and was often criticized, sometime for his striking similarity in appearance with his mother Sharmila Tagore.
After struggling for nine years in the industry, the actor rose to stardom with 2001 film ‘Dil Chahta Hai’, which marked a turning point in his career.
After ‘Dil Chahta Hai’, his success story continued with films like ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’, ‘Hum Tum’, ‘Salaam Namaste’, ‘Parineeta’, ‘Being Cyrus’, ‘Omkara’, ‘Race’, ‘Kurbaan’, ‘Cocktail’ and few others.
The actor won Nation Film Awards in 2004 for his role in the film ‘Hum Tum’ and six years after winning Nation Film Awards, Saif added anther feather in his crown, as he was conferred Padma Shri award in 2010.
Apart from acting, Saif produced four films including ‘Love Aaj Kal’, ‘Agent Vinod’, ‘Cocktail’ and ‘Go Goa Gone’.
Throughout his stardom, the actor got involved into various controversies. In 1998, Khan was charged with poaching two blackbucks in Kankani during the filming of ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’.
Again, in 2008 Khan was involved in assaulting a photographer while filming ‘Love Aaj Kal’.
Saif married actress Amrita Singh in October 1991 and they have two children, Ibrahim and Sara. After thirteen years of marriage, the couple divorced in 2004.
The actor then dated a Swiss model and finally got engaged with Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor.
Media reports claimed that the couple is planning to spend Saif’s birthday in London.
The actor’s future projects include ‘Race 2’, which is a sequel of ‘Race’, and ‘Go Goa Gone’.
Though born in the same date with Saif Ali Khan, actress Manisha Koirala’s success story was absolutely different from that of Saif’s.
Unlike Saif’s ‘Parampara’, Manisha’s debut film in Bollywood, ‘Saudagar’, where she shared the screen with two legendary actors, Dilip Kumar and Raaj Kumar, was a huge hit.
She starred in films like ‘1942: A Love Story’, ‘Agni Sakshi’, Gupt’, ‘Bombay’, ‘Lajja’, ‘Moksha’, ‘Ek Chotisi Love Story’, ‘Dil Se..’, ‘Company’ and few other hit films.
The actress has made her mark in the industry with her power packed performances in films like ‘Bombay’, ‘Akele Hum Akele Tum’, ‘Khamoshi: The Musical’, ‘Dil Se’, ‘Company’, and ‘I Am’.
Manisha has thrice won the Filmfare Critics' Award.
The actress has been involved into various philanthropic works like promoting women’s rights, prevention of violence against women, and also to prevent the human trafficking of Nepali girls for prostitution.
Both Saif and Manisha, after spending more than two decades in the industry, have done only one film together, ‘Kachche Dhaage’.
