Saif Ali Khan shares how fatherhood changed his view of long work shifts

Actor Saif Ali Khan said he has become more conscious of giving time to his family as he spoke about the moral and emotional layers of his latest project, Kartavya. He said the film is not just a crime thriller, but also a story about conscience, duty and family, with its lead character caught in a difficult moral conflict.

Alongside discussing the film, Saif reflected on how his priorities have changed over time. He spoke about the personal cost of being an actor, the sacrifices demanded by long shooting schedules, and how becoming a father later in life has made him think differently about work-life balance.

What fatherhood changed

Speaking to India Today, Saif said the profession often comes with sacrifices that affect personal life. “I’m sure there have been sacrifices professionally that have cost me personally. We’ve also been lucky, because as actors you can’t take support for granted in this profession,” he shared.

Using a mountain-climbing analogy, he described family as a person’s “base camp”. “They say if you climb a mountain, you need a good base camp. Home is like that base camp. If you spend too much time on the mountain, there may be no base camp left when you return. But if you spend too much time at base camp, then you can’t climb mountains either. That balance is what everyone struggles with. And as you get older, priorities begin to shift,” he added.

He also said actors often miss important moments because of work. “We’ve sacrificed time with friends, important occasions shooting on New Year’s Eve, birthdays, everybody else’s birthdays, because we had to shoot, sorry, we wanted to shoot— so there’s often no time for anything. And maybe, at times, you miss out on important personal moments too,” he said.

Saif said fatherhood has changed how he sees long “nine-to-nine” shifts in the industry.

“At this age, I’ve become more conscious about giving time to family. Especially after having children a little later in life, I started feeling that I must be home at a certain time in the evening. That nine-to-nine shift really bothers me because you don’t start at nine and you don’t finish at nine. The last shot goes up at 9:30, you’re home by 11, and I don’t think that’s a life. But yes, I have made lots of sacrifices, which was crazy,” he added.

On the film’s moral conflict

Talking about Kartavya, Saif said the story examines the pull between duty, conscience and family. “I think there’s a kind of human conscience that tells you what you should be doing. And there is a duty - a duty towards your work and your family, really. Towards your family, children, regular kind of stuff,” Saif shared.

He said the film has a philosophical thread while still working as a thriller. “But what I’d quickly like to say, which I don’t think I’ve mentioned in all the interviews so far, is that there’s quite a bit of philosophy in the story - without making it sound boring. It’s a real moral grey area that this character finds himself in,” he said.

A cop, a family and a crisis

Saif praised filmmaker Pulkit for writing what he called a strong hero’s part. He said the film follows a cop who loves his wife and family deeply, but is pushed into a dangerous and emotionally difficult situation while trying to protect them.

“Pulkit has written a lovely hero’s role about a cop who has a wonderful family and is deeply in love with his wife. And then, in trying to protect that life, certain things happen. It becomes a crime thriller in that sense,” he explained.

He added, “The way out of this chakravyuh (trap) is almost impossible to figure out. The decision that is taken is dark, disturbing, and at the same time fascinating - especially with the support of his wife and pressure from his boss. It’s a really good story, and my main responsibility was to do this part properly, which I hope we’ve all managed to do,” he said.

Kartavya is set to stream on Netflix from May 15.