Saif Ali Khan denies buying Pataudi Palace back

Actor calls INR800 crore price tag a ‘massive exaggeration’

Saif Ali Khan has claimed that the reports of him having bought back his ancestral home - the renowned Pataudi Palace - from an Indian hotel chain are a “massive exaggeration.” According to him, the property is “priceless” and disputed rumoured price of INR800 crore is false too.

In a recent interview, Khan revealed that since he already owns Pataudi Palace, he doesn’t have to buy it back but there were other financial arrangements made, reported Hindustan Times. The actor, who recently returned to Mumbai after a quick visit to Pataudi, said that its estimated worth is “a miscommunication, really.”

“It’s impossible to put a value to it in monetary terms because emotionally, the property is priceless. My grandparents and father are buried there, there’s security, serenity and a spiritual connection there for me,” Khan stated. “The land goes back by a few centuries but the palace that my grandfather built for my grandmother is around a hundred years old.

He was the ruling monarch then, but since, privy purses and titles have been abolished. This is a different time, which is why my father leased it out and Francis (Wacziarg) and Aman (Nath), who ran a hotel in the palace, took good care of the property and were like family. My mother (Sharmila Tagore) has a cottage there and she was always comfortable.”

But the superstar wanted to have Pataudi Palace back in the family after his father’s death, though. “When I was offered the chance, I wrapped up the lease that was left, paid up and took possession of our home again. It was a fair financial arrangement and contrary to reports, I did not have to buy it back because I already owned it,” he clarified. “In my teenage years, I was the black sheep, so, it feels nice now to do this for the family and our heritage.”

Khan rents out certain portions of the property for film shoots so that it can sustain itself. “So, even the house I’m supposed to have inherited has been earned back through money from films. You can’t live off the past. At least we can’t in our family, because there was nothing. There is history, culture, beautiful photographs and, of course, some land. It has been a privileged upbringing. But there’s been no inheritance.”

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