MUMBAI:

Saif Ali Khan says he is not doing Karan Johar’s next film due to genuine date problems and not because he is insecure about being in the same film as Abhishek Bachchan.

“It is not because I’m insecure about being in the same picture as Abhishek. As a matter of fact the little that I got to work with Abhishek in Salaam Namaste, I really enjoyed myself. I’d love to do a full-fledged film with Abhishek any day,” Saif told.

The yet untitled film is the directorial debut of Karan’s assistant Tarun Mansukhani.

Explaining why he could not take up Mansukhani’s film, Saif said, “It’s this look that I’ve to do in each of my current films. There’s this beard that I’ve now for Abbas-Mustan’s Race, which I’m shooting currently. To my relief it goes off for Yash Raj Films’ Tashan, which starts in a couple of days. After that I change my appearance for Kunal Kohli’s film.” “In fact, the dates for Kunal’s and Karan’s films coincided. There was no way I could do both. And since I was committed to do Kunal’s film beforehand, there was no way I could fit into Karan’s film.”

So is ‘the look’ now an integral part of Saif’s craft as an actor? “For want of a better word, yes. After Omkara I’ve realised how important the physical appearance is for a character. Earlier in Hum Tum I had the longhaired look for a part of the plot. That really added to my character. Now I’ll do one film at a time so I can experiment with my looks."