Saif Ali Khan admits he ‘hated himself' on first day of shooting Jewel Thief: The Heist Begins in IMDb exclusive

Hans India

26-04-2025

Saif Ali Khan admits he 'hated himself' on first day of shooting Jewel Thief: The Heist Begins in IMDb exclusiveJewel Thief: The Heist Begins, the high-octane action thriller starring Saif Ali Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat, Kunal Kapoor and Nikita Dutta, has recently hit screens. Produced by Siddharth Anand, the film revolves around a high-stakes diamond heist and the complex characters caught in its web.
In an exclusive conversation with IMDb, Khan, Ahlawat, and Anand opened up about their experiences making the film, from intense shoot schedules to humorous behind-the-scenes moments.
Speaking about what drew him to the film, Saif Ali Khan shared, 'For me, it was the role and the story of a talented kind of person who has these dark skills and goes against the system. He's a rebellious kind of guy who has made his way in the world. He's a sympathetic character who has his heart in the right place and does things for the right reasons. He has a line in the film where he says that sometimes good people have to do bad things to save their family, and that was an important line for me.'
Director Siddharth Anand said, 'It's a genre that I love watching and it's always exciting to create something like this. I love to do things that push me and give me sleepless nights.' Jaideep Ahlawat added his usual humour, stating, 'For me, it was simple. Marflix, Netflix, Saif Sir, Siddharth, Mamta ma'am, and blonde Jaideep Ahlawat.'
Reflecting on the first day of shooting, Khan admitted, 'I remember my first day, it was very late at night. We started at 1AM. I would finish at about 5AM as the light came up. It was the first time I met Jaideep. As usual, I hated myself because it was the first day. Sometimes to be honest, I don't know what I'm doing. It takes a while to get used to it, I was a little nervous. A little tired. A little lost.'
Adding a lighter note, he recalled a moment involving Ahlawat's on-screen dog: 'I was shooting with Jaideep sir's dog in the movie and it's a massive rottweiler. I didn't know they were that big. The owner said you can do whatever you want with it. I was feeding it biscuits and playing with it. At one point, I pulled it slightly. It growled at me in the most ferocious way and then he said that you can do what you want but don't pull it.'
On being asked what surprised them about each other during the shoot, Ahlawat commented, 'I'm surprised just working with him (Saif). I've done something good that I'm working with him, that's a surprise for me also.' Khan, in turn, said, 'I was surprised by how thin he was. The last time I saw him as Hathiram (Ahlawat's character in Paatal Lok), he was looking quite solid. Here he was lean, mean, badass, very sexy, giving young Sanjay Dutt vibes to me. The other thing, I shouldn't have been surprised but I was, was the commitment to the reality of the shots.'