09/10/2024
There has been a buzz for quite some time now that Saif Ali Khan will turn his ancestral house into a hotel. He reclaimed the ownership of this house recently, the Pataudi Palace. There was also a buzz that he might turn a portion of his house into a museum to highlight his family heritage. However, the actor has shunned these speculations, saying his home is very special in his heart. The actor shared that his father has been buried here, and he wants to restore it most authentically.
Talking about the historic value of the Pataudi Palace, Saif told India Today, “Heritage-wise, the house belongs to different people over time. My father was born a nawab, he was a nawab. He lived life on his terms, and he was the most amazing man. He said that times have changed, and he decided to rent the house out to a hotel… I remember my grandmother telling me, ‘Never do that’. It’s got a lot of history, and that’s something I take pride in.”
He added, “My grandparents are buried there, my father is buried there. It’s my family home. There are a lot of these old houses, we call them the darbar halls, but I find that an outdated name. I want to call it the long room, after the hall at Lord’s. This house was built by the seventh nawab of Pataudi and my father. I want to put up their cricket places and bats, and I really want to restore this house with their spirit. That’s been my dream, and it’s almost done.”
Some time back, in an interview with Cyrus Broacha on the Housing.com YouTube channel, his sister Soha Ali Khan mentioned that their mother, Sharmila Tagore, oversees the household accounts, ensuring everything is in order.
“My mother sits with her hisaab-kitaab; she knows daily expenditure and monthly expenditure. For example, we whitewash Pataudi, it’s not painted because it’s a lot less expensive. And we haven’t bought anything new for a long time. It’s the architecture of the place that’s most inviting; it’s not the things, it’s not the objects,” she said.
