Saif Ali Khan has drawn the most intimate and unusual connection between filmmaker Priyadarshan and legendary Indian cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi (better known as Tiger Pataudi). When talking about working with Priyadarshan on "Haiwaan", Saif said his personality, discipline and great journey inspired him to think of his father. Because both are injured in an eye and still succeeding in their careers.
Saif, playing a visually impaired musician and martial arts coach in "Haiwaan", described Priyadarshan as a calm and experienced filmmaker. Saif compared him to Hollywood star Clint Eastwood and observed that he has a calm and collected approach on set. Priyadarshan’s style of working forces actors to be alert and make quick decisions in order to execute his scenes efficiently, rather than shooting the same scene over and over, the actor said.
Saif felt this quality brought back memories of his father. Both Priyadarshan and Tiger Pataudi had cricket connections and both sustained life-changing eye injuries. But neither was so privileged as to let circumstances deter them from winning in their chosen careers.
Tiger Pataudi’s story is one of the most amazing stories in Indian cricket. In 1961, when he was only 20 years old, Pataudi had a car accident in London and developed a serious eye injury after it happened; he was left with double vision after surgery. At a time when most young cricketers wouldn’t have been able to go on to competitive cricket in even the most competitive cricket world, Pataudi came back to competitive cricket so quickly.
Just five months after the accident, he made his Test debut for India. And his dedication did not stop there. He became the youngest Test captain in Indian cricket in the history of the game the following year. His impaired vision presented major challenges, but Pataudi was able to hone his technique and he very famously positioned his cricket cap so that he could block the double vision of the eye that was caused to his injured eye.
Tiger Pataudi was so resilient that he survived the accident and became the captain of India and one of cricket’s most popular personalities. His career has far more than stats to him and his courage and adaptability is so prevalent it can be considered the best of his career.
Priyadarshan also had cricket before going into the movie business. The filmmaker played cricket at the state level as a child and even dreamed of becoming a professional cricketer but after a match in his youth, an accident changed all that. A ball struck him in the left eye and he was permanently disabled and he gave up his sporting aspirations.
Instead of allowing the defeat to dictate his future, Priyadarshan turned to filmmaking. In doing so he evolved into one of the most widely known and influential directors in Indian cinema, which is why he has worked with a variety of languages as well as genres. His work has ranged from comedy and drama to action and thriller projects.
A Pataudi-Priyadarshan connection is more than that: it’s about how both of them dealt with what would have been a major career failure. Pataudi kept at the top level of international cricket; Priyadarshan transformed his creative dreams into an impressive career as a filmmaker.
For Saif, that shared history seems to have made Priyadarshan very relatable. The actor’s comments add to the meaning of his role in "Haiwaan", where he plays a character that is visually impaired but has great musical and martial arts skills.
Saif’s observation is a good example of how one’s personal experiences might lead to an actor’s view of a filmmaker. Priyadarshan and Tiger Pataudi had very different career paths and yet their resilience in the face of serious eye injuries was surprising. And for Saif Ali Khan, that similarity was enough to make the veteran filmmaker feel familiar—and perhaps even reminded him of one of the most influential figures in his own life.
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