Saif Ali Khan (born 16 August 1970 in New Delhi, India) is an Indian actor in Bollywood films. He is the son of the Nawab of Pataudi, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, and the actress Sharmila Tagore. He has two sisters; Saba Ali Khan and actress Soha Ali Khan. He is the heir apparent to both royal houses of Bhopal and Pataudi.

Khan made his debut in 1992 with Parampara. He had his first major success with the 1994 films Main Khiladi Tu Anari and Yeh Dillagi. After going through several years of decline in the 1990s, he rose into prominence with his performance in Dil Chahta Hai (2001), which marked his professional turning point His performance in Nikhil Advani’s Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) won him the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award, and he won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Hum Tum (2004). He then had commercial success with films like Salaam Namaste (2005), Race (2008) and Love Aaj Kal (2009), and starred in critically acclaimed projects such as Parineeta (2005) and Omkara (2006).These successes put him among the most successful actors in the industry. Since 2009, Khan has branched out into film production. He is the founder-owner of his production company Illuminati Films.


Saif Ali Khan has Muslim Pashtun ancestry through Nawabs of Pataudi lineage from his father’s side and Hindu Bengali Tagore ancestry from his mother’s side. His paternal grandfather, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, was the Nawab of Pataudi as well as an accomplished cricketer who played for England and then for India as the captain of the team.His paternal grandmother was Sajida Sultan, Begum of Bhopal and his great-uncle was Pakistani general Nawabzada Sher Ali Khan Pataudi. His father is Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, the eighth Nawab of Pataudi and a former captain of the Indian cricket team.
Khan has two sisters Saba Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan. Khan’s mother is Sharmila Tagore, a Bengali Indian film actress and a member of Bengal’s Tagore family. She is also the head of the Indian film censorship board[6] and the grand-niece of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.Tagore converted to Islam from Hinduism after her marriage to Khan’s father, and changed her name to Begum Ayesha Sultana.[5] Khan spent his childhood in a Muslim atmosphere, reading the Quran, with his grandmother being the centre of his religious education. Khan says that “Religion played a major role in my upbringing.” Khan also states that his family is “cool or rather massively open–minded about religious matters.” For example, he acknowledges that his daughter is born into a Muslim family, however he states that he will not decide her religion for her.
Initially Khan studied at the Lawrence School Sanawar and later attended Lockers Park School in Hertfordshire. He followed in his father’s footsteps by attending Winchester College, an independent school for boys in the UK. Khan can speak his native languages of Hindi and Bengali fluently, as well as English.