Earlier this year, Saif Ali Khan had a night which he still remembers with a terrible shudder. A night that should have been peaceful at home with his family, turned into a terrifying experience when someone broke in.
There was a fight of extreme violence when Saif Ali Khan met the attacker, and as a result the actor was left with painful injuries to his neck and spine — wounds that could have changed the course of his life.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter India, Saif Ali Khan revisited the moment with a sense of disbelief at how close he came to tragedy.
“I feel incredibly lucky and blessed to have gotten away with it the way I did, because it was very close. There was a nick to my spinal cord, and that could have led to paralysis, because I had lost feeling in my leg for a while.”
He admitted that the possibility of permanent paralysis still haunts him: “And that concept of being bedridden forever, or being paralyzed, is frightening and still frightens me So I don’t know if that means I’ve changed, but I’m appreciative that I am healthy, and that keeps me grateful.”
Gratitude has always been part of Saif Ali Khan’s worldview, but this incident deepened that awareness. As he put it, “I’ve always lived a certain way, knowing that it is a privilege and that we’re very lucky to even go through life the way we do.”
Even in the middle of recounting such a traumatic event, Saif Ali Khan couldn’t resist letting a bit of humour slip in. “And yeah, I get the feeling I have kind of nine lives. Having said this, I might be gone tomorrow, and then you can say, ‘Oh my God, he just said nine lives.’ But I’ve been very close very often.” He added that the incident was “quite close and scary.”
He had earlier spoken about the night in more detail during his appearance on Two Much, hosted by Twinkle Khanna and Kajol.
That evening, he had just finished watching a film with his sons, Taimur and Jeh. After they finally went to bed, the house seemed quiet — until a member of the staff rushed in with the terrifying news: “Jeh baba ke kamre mein koi hai. Uske haath mein chaaku hai aur bol rahe hai usko paisa chahiye.‘ (There’s someone in Jeh’s room. He has a knife in his hand, and he says he wants money.”
Instantly alert, Saif Ali Khan ran into Jeh’s dark room and came face-to-face with the armed intruder. “I kind of heard that and rolled out of bed. I barged into Jeh’s room in the dark, and I saw this guy standing over his bed with a knife. I tried to remember my training and blocked a couple of them. But then I felt a thump in my back that was really hard. By then, everyone was out of their rooms. Gita, our domestic help, aided me in this struggle and pushed the guy off me. She saved my life at that point because he had cut me everywhere. Then we locked him in a room."
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
