Saif Ali Khan's Familial History and Lineage

Amitabh Bachchan's blog post got me interested in reading about Saif Ali Khan's lineage. Here's the relevant part from AB's blog:

I take him back to New Delhi and his grandmother and her sports convertible E - Type white Jaguar, which she drove herself into the Teen Murti House, the official residence of the first Prime Minister of India, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru . We being jaw dropping spectators inside the House on many occasions as she regally drove in. Begum Pataudi, mother to Tiger Pataudi, father to Saif, strong and graceful in demeanor. Can never forget that image.

Most of you might know that Saif is the son of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Sharmila Tagore. Here are somethings you may not know:

About Sharmila Tagore:

• Sharmila is a grand niece of Rabindranath Tagore
• She converted to Islam and changed her name to Ayesha Sultana
• She was born into a Bengali family in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

About Mansoor Khan Pataudi (Tiger):

• The Begum Pataudi, Amitabh was referring to is, Tiger's mother Sajida Sultan. She belonged to the well-known House of Bhopal. She became the Nawab Begum of Bhopal after the death of her father, Nawab Hamidullah Khan
• Tiger is the son of Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, 8th Nawab of Pataudi and ex-Captain of Indian Cricket Team
• His great-uncle was Pakistani general Nawabzada Sher Ali Khan Pataudi

About Saif Ali Khan:

• He has two kids with Amrita Singh. Sarah Ali Khan, born September 1995 and Ibrahim Ali Khan, born March 2001.

An old interview with Saif's parents in 'The Hindu' here about their history.

The Origins of the Last Name Bachchan

From Amitabh Bachchan, in his own words, on his blog:

Bachchan was my Father’s nom de plume. A pseudonym, a pen name, a fictitious name used when working for a particular social cause. It emanated from his Mother, my Grand Mother, who lovingly called him ‘bachcha’, or child.

A Very Very Strange Guy - R.G.V

I thought few of the best works of Ram Gopal Varma are the movies in his early days. And of them the best were Shiva, Rangeela, Kaun, Satya, Money.

But, he begs to differ. In his blog, RGV claims this:

9. Can you tell us the three biggest mistakes you made w.r.t your films?
Ans: Shiva, Satya and Rangeela because they have created a benchmark and all the time I get bashed up for not living up to them. Boo hoo hoo!

He says those movies are his biggest mistakes. That makes an iota of sense if you think from a perspective such as.. I don't want to be a great director..I just want to create movies just for my sake..i don't care how they turn out. But, I am pretty sure no body would be willing to produce his movies if it weren't for his "Shiva, Satya and Rangeela".

Amitabh Bacchan's Life

I am fascinated by Amitabh's blog. It gives a rare insight into one of THE most popular person in India's life. He writes at least 1 post a day at the end of the day, filling it mostly with what he did on that particular day and what he might be doing the day after. From what I read he loves his family and misses them constantly because of their/his schedule. He feels elated when his house is full with family and friends. He is friends with Madhavan and Akshay Kumar. Herez a snippet from his post today:

Akshay, of Akshay Kumar, of Singh is Kingh of Chandni Chowk to China, of father to delightful little Aarav, Aarav, that moves with the constant expressive smile that conveys, he has just committed some serious mischief, that Akshay, has called at 5:30 am ! He is in Toronto at 2:30 am !!

‘CCTC is premiering at London, Leicester Square on the 12th, tomorrow night, shall be honored if you could come and join us.’

I tell him I shall.

‘Delighted Sir ! Just don’t bring your brains and thinking cap along !!’, he ends. I give him assurance.

He loves and has enormous respect for his parents. He is very humble. Very diligent. He apologizes if he misses to write one day. Eloquent. Simply a very good read. If you are not following him on his blog, you are missing on something good. Go read it.

Amitabh Bachchan Golfing

Nice pic of Mr.AB golfing with his buddy Madhavan.

Top 10 Highest Grossing Bollywood Movies in 2008

Top 10 Highest Grossing Bollywood Movies in 2007

So You Think You Can Dance - Bollywood Edition

From Nirali:

Katee and Joshua performed the first ever Bollywood number on "So You Think You Can Dance" to "Dhoom Taana" from "Om Shanti Om" last night and KILLED it. I absolutely loved this number and the choreographer, Nakul Dev Mahajan, did an amazing job teaching these two the specifics of proper bhangra and classical dance technique.