Rahul Rawail clarifies he did not ask Saif Ali Khan to leave his girlfriend during Bekhudi: 'He was irresponsible, he didn't turn up'

Saif Ali Khan was supposed to make his debut with 'Bekhudi' with Kajol. However, the actor was removed from the film and was replaced in the movie by Kamal Sadanah. Saif had spoken about being removed from his first film. He had said that he was asked by the director to either leave his then girlfriend or leave the film. However, now director Rahul Rawail has now steered clear on it. For those not in the know, in a viral interview clip, Saif was asked about his struggle in the industry and he had said, “Struggle ka matlab kya hota hai? Auto rickshaw mein baitho aur 10 chakkar kaato. Kisi ke office mein 3 ghante ke liye baitho. Ise struggle kehte hain. Meri struggle bhi thi lekin alag thi. Mujhe apni pehle film se nikaal diya gaya kyuki mere director saab ne bola ki you leave your girlfriend or you do the film. It was a moral choice."

Now, in an interview, Rawail has clarified on it. He told Screen, "No, that’s wrong. Saif was wrong about it. He was irresponsible. He did not turn up for the shooting, which really stressed me out. At that time, he used to do that a lot. But he has done very well. I’m very happy with him. He’s changed over the years. When I’m working, I expect people to do their work."




Saif eventually went on to make his debut with 'Parampara'. Speaking to Lehren back then, Saif said the accusations seriously damaged his image. “I feel he (Rahul) thinks that I am not interested in films, that I don’t want to work. Several rumours also started going around on, that I came to the sets drunk, that I kept sleeping on the sets. All this is old now but I was quite affected,” the actor admitted.

On work front now, Saif will be seen next in 'Haiwaan' along with Akshay Kumar. Get the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”