Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor evoked harsh responses from Twitterati after they named their newborn as Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi. Saif Ali Khan had then opened up about the entire controversy and explained that why he chose Muslim name for his son. Well, Saif has once again revisited the controversy and has opened up what does Taimur stands for in west and also that he might change his son’s name if needed.
In a recent interview with Delhi Times, Saif was asked if he is still getting questions about the nomenclature of Pataudi junior. To which he replied, “Yes, even today. My daughter told me, why don’t you say that you have not named him after Timur Lang, say that’s Timur and this is Taimur. I said it still sounds similar. She says just say they have same roots. The name is nice and it sounds good and it means something nice but it is not named after that guy.
Well, yes, the name is the same, but the name also predates the person called Timur Lang. Incidentally, Timur Lang’s son was Shah Rukh, who is the guy who supposedly said we should actually plunder India. A lot of fighting was done by his sons, but nobody has a problem with the name Shah Rukh (laughs).”
When further asked if things are sorted now, Rangoon actor replied, “I think. Also, a part of me has realised that if a select few are happy with you, universal acceptance is not required because this kind of populist approval means something scary. I would rather have a handful of people whose opinion I respect, agree with me, that’s enough. I don’t want universal approval if it’s going to require me to pretend.”
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“Anything you do anywhere ends up on the net, it’s all over, anything you say. Why do it yourself? Let’s go back to get other people do it for you and do what you want. Hopefully, as priests interpret scriptures, a good journalist can omit some crap you said and kind of guide your conversation into the right way. I prefer the old way, uncensored is a bit dangerous for someone like me (laughs).
You know, actually – I haven’t told anyone this – I thought for a second about changing his name. For a couple of weeks. And Kareena was a little against it and she said, ‘People respect you for your opinion and you can’t’… So I said, yeah, but it’s not about people. I don’t want him to get unpopular. And I still might, maybe when he’s one or two, I might change his name in a while, it’s still sinking in, what to do. Someone in my PR agreed with me, and we drafted a small letter. And when I read it, it was so pathetic, that I cancelled the idea. Because it was really like, uhh, ‘I’m sorry’, and ‘I didn’t want to offend’ and ‘I’m an idiot’ (laughs), and you know, I’ve given in to pressure. It just sounded awful. However you write it, it just wasn’t sounding right. It was like I didn’t realise where I live or what I’m doing. So I did think about it. I thought about it, but it was for the wrong reason,” he added.
Saif also shared that he might change his son Taimur’s name in future. “If I feel that he’s going to get in trouble in school, I might change it still. It’s a bit late now though. Or not. I don’t know,” said Saif.
