There is news that since Saif Ali Khan has got back the heritage Pataudi Palace, he intends to turn a portion of it into a museum so that one can have a glance at his family’s past. All this while, the actor hasn’t had much to say on the matter, but what he did say was that this palace has been a very sentimental thing for him.
On the historical value of Pataudi Palace, Saif said, “Heritage-wise, the house belongs to different people over time. My father was born a nawab; he was a nawab. He lived on his own terms and was an extra-ordinary man. He said times had changed, and decided to rent the house out as a hotel. I remember my grandmother telling me, ‘Never do that’. It’s got a lot of history, and that’s something I take pride in.”
He elaborates, “My grandparents and father are buried there. It is my family home. There are so many of these old houses, we call them the darbar halls, but that name sounds dated. I’d like to call it the long room, inspired by the hall at Lord’s. This house was built by the seventh nawab of Pataudi and my father. I want to show their cricket memorabilia and rejuvenate the house with their spirit. That’s been my dream, and it’s almost complete.”
She said in an interview with Cyrus Broacha on the Housing.com YouTube channel: “My mother handles the hisaab-kitaab; she knows the daily and monthly expenses. For instance, we whitewash Pataudi instead of painting it because it’s more affordable. We haven’t purchased anything new in a long time. It’s the architecture that’s most appealing, not the objects inside.”.
This is owned by Saif, who is married to the actor Kareena Kapoor. Earlier, this belonged to his father, the cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. This particular estate was originally built by Saif’s grandfather, Nawab Iftikhar Ali Khan. The estate is spread over 10 acres in Haryana’s Gurgaon district and has 150 rooms, including seven bedrooms, dressing rooms, billiard rooms, and grand drawing and dining rooms.
The palace is primarily a holiday house of the family and is actually leased to people for film shoots. Shoots of late include filming of the movie Animal and Saif’s TV series Tandav.
