Sajid Khan: 6 statements that reek of his arrogance

After Sajid Khan was reported to have been replaced by Sajid-Farhad as the directors of ‘Housefull 3’, he took to Twitter to clear the air that he wasn’t ‘replaced’ but had rejected the film. Calling it a wrong decision, Sajid said on the social networking website, “'Replaced'is when someone is removed..I said no to the film(a stupid decision) then as my best friend sajid nadiadwala n i were upset with each other..but by the time we patched up hf3 was already being directed by farhad sajid..so pls my media friends avoid using the word." [sic] He, however, added, “Replaced...unless ofcourse u wanna run me down (as is fashionable)...On record...I REGRET HAVING REFUSED HF3. as I missed the fun of shooting,” and wished, “With my friends akshay,riteish,abhishek and of course my bro sajid nadiadwala..i pray hf3 breaks all records so then we can make hf4 togethr.” [sic]

However, he did regret his statements about his film ‘Humshakals’ which bombed at the box office. Know what he had said…

Filmmaker Sajid Khan seems to have become controversy's favorite child ever since he started boasting about himself and his movies. And after the debacle of his recently released film Humshakals, the filmmaker seems to have toned down his bragging attitude. In a recent interview to Mumbai Mirror, the director said, "That was childish, arrogant, immature and boastful. But in the last two years, I've changed. I will be 43 soon and have matured. I didn't make such claims for Humshakals. I've realised that I'm a filmmaker and not a box-office pundit. I'll never speak that way again."

He further spoke about the reason of him being in news constantly,"I guess it's because of my past as TV host. I used to crack jokes about the film industry and the fraternity, laugh while reviewing films. When I turned director, it gave people a chance to hit back at me (pauses). But I don't wish to hit back. I'm known to be outspoken but now I'm slowly learning to be politically correct."

Though, Sajid claims to have become more mature now, let's take a look at some of the statements made by the filmmaker in the past that reek of his arrogance.

In a recent interview to Bombay Times, Sajid said that a man is more focussed and works better when he has no woman in his life.

The director was quoted saying, "While we broke up in May 2013, in reality right from December 2012, it started becoming sour. So you are already preparing your mind in those five months. Also, when you don’t have a woman in your life, you don’t have someone constantly nagging you, so you end up working better and are more focused. I went for a holiday with her for five days in the middle of making Himmatwala and felt so bad when the film didn’t do well. For Humshakals, I have not taken a single holiday."
Let's take a look at some of his most famous statements that reeks arrogance.

My films will never flop: Sajid Khan, who is always known for self praising once claimed that Himmatwala will earn Rs 150 crore at the box office. However, soon after the debacle of the film the director went underground for some time. There have been various incidents when Sajid has tried to show-off his knowledge about Bollywood. And one such incident was when Sajid claimed that his films will never flop.
Sajid said,"I can't say I am a great director but I am the greatest audience, since childhood I have done nothing other than watching films. Cinema is my life. I can never make a flop film because I make films for the audience and not for myself."

Housefull 1 and Housefull 2 got Akshay out of bad patch: This one was the biggest one of the all but this Sajid Khan had to apparently pay a huge price. Yes, we are talking about Sajid Khan's comment on Akshay Kumar. During one of his interviews for Himmatwala, Sajid went ahead to say that Akshay was going through a bad patch and after giving six to seven flops hit series Houseful happened to him. This comment of Sajid apparently left Akshay fuming.

While answering host Rajeev Masand's question about why Sajid doesn't work with newcomers Sajid said, "Housefull 1 and Housefull 2, sort of, got Akshay out of a bad patch of six to seven flop films. He had a run of six to seven flop films, after which Housefull became the first big grosser in 2010. Then again, he had a patch of six to seven films. Then again, it was Housefull 2."All these claims made by Sajid Khan on national television didn't go down well with Akshay Kumar and it was reported in the media that the star gave him a piece of advice. Sajid's boastful nature backfired for him as producer Sajid Nadiadwala apparently dropped him from the Houseful franchise.

People will not get tickets during the first three days of Himmatwala: While promoting his 1983's hit remake of Himmatwala with the same name, Sajid went out making many tall claims. Unfortunately, none of them came true. One of his claims was that the movie will be such a big hit that people will not get tickets for the first three days.

Sajid said, "I make films for the audiences and this film will also work. I can promise that the first three days people won’t get the tickets.”

'Himmatwala' would be Ajay Devgn's biggest grosser till date: Sajid Khan, who made all his three blockbusters Heyy Baby, Housefull and Housefull 2 with his lucky mascot Akshay Kumar worked with another action hero Ajay Devgn for the first time in Himmatwala. However, his combination with Ajay Devgn failed to impress audiences at the box-office. Sajid, who was on a high after giving three blockbusters back to back announced even before the film's release that 'Himmatwala' would be Ajay Devgn's biggest grosser till date.

The filmmaker even claimed to change his name if audiences didn't clap or whistle on Ajay's entry. "Ajay's entry will be the best introduction scene ever by an Indian actor. If 80 per cent of the audience in a theatre doesn't whistle and clap during Ajay's entry, I'll change my name. It will be one of the top three hero entries in Hindi cinema."

Naseeruddin Shah worked in films which were C grade: The filmmaker has not just restricted his comments to just praising himself. During one of his interviews, Sajid Khan made some nasty comments about talented veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah. Naseer was not very impressed with the idea of remaking Himmatwala and when Rajeev asked for Sajid's reaction on the same, he said, "I can name 200 films of Naseeruddin Shah which shouldn't have been made in the first place. He has worked in downgrade and C grade cinema. Naseerudin Shah is no doubt a brilliant actor but he had a work disorder. He could never say no to films. He said yes to all the films including some very C grade projects, trust me on this," said the filmmaker while promoting Himmatwala on Rajeev Masand's show.