The dreamy Pataudi Palace in Haryana has been used in movies like Rang De Basanti and Veer-Zaara.
Reports have been doing rounds that Saif Ali Khan paid 800 crores to ‘buy back’ the grand ancestral property from a hotel chain. However, the actor has now clarified.
The Pataudi Palace was built 100 years ago, by Saif’s grandfather Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, for Sajida Sultan, Saif’s grandmother.
Saif’s father Mansoor Ali Khan had leased the Pataudi Palace to Neemrana Hotels because by the time he came to his own, monarchy and titles had been abolished.
In an interview with Mumbai Mirror, Saif Ali Khan confirmed that he paid off the sum owed to the Neemrana Group Hotels. However, he clarified that he did not buy back the property because the Pataudis still owned it. He only paid off the lease!
“My father leased it out and Francis (Wacziarg) and Aman (Nath), who ran a hotel there took good care of the property.”
“It was a fair financial arrangement and contrary to reports, I did not have to buy it back because I already owned it,” Saif said.
Talking about the 800 crores, Saif was of the opinion that the 800 crore price tag was ‘a massive exaggeration; a miscommunication really’. He added, “It’s impossible to put a value to it in monetary terms because emotionally, the property is priceless.”
Saif wanted the property back in family after his father’s death – “So, when I was offered the chance, I wrapped up the lease that was left, paid up and took possession of our home again. In my teenage years, I was the black sheep, so, it feels nice now to do this for the family and our heritage.”
Certain portions of the property are rented out for weddings and film shoots, so that it can sustain itself.
When asked if he sees himself settling there with Kareena, Taimur and their second child who is on the way, Saif said that that is the plan. He would just like to fly out to Mumbai for work but settle down at the Pataudi Palace, “swim, cook, read and be around the family, and have a few friends over once in a while,” Saif concluded.
Describing the Pataudi Palace as a ‘largish, colonial, Lutyens Delhi-syle country home’ with seven bedrooms and beautiful gardens, Saif said that the books have been restored, and the family portraits are back on the walls now.