Saif Ali Khan confesses he wanted to return his Padma Shri Award: So many senior, talented people don't have it

Saif Ali Khan has confessed that he wanted to return his Padma Shri award but changed his mind after talking to his father, late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. The actor was feted with India’s fourth highest civilian award in 2010.

During a recent interaction with Arbaaz Khan in his talk show Pinch, Saif read out a comment from a troll, who claimed that the Sacred Games star bought the Padma Shri. Responding to the comment, Saif joked that that he is not rich enough to  bribe the Indian government.

“There are so many senior, talented people in the industry who do not have it that I did not feel like accepting it. Of course, there are some people who I feel deserve it less than me also. I wanted to give it back, I didn’t want to accept it,” he told Arbaaz on the show.

His father then told him that he was “not in a position to refuse the Indian government.” After his conversation with his father, he decided to accept the award.

He added that he hopes in time people say that he deserves the honour for the body of work he has produced.

When another social media user questioned him for “being a nawab and still clinging on to rotten hukumat”, he quipped that he was interested in being a nawab and has always preferred eating kebabs.

Saif will next be seen in the  season 2 of Netflix’s Sacred Games.