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4 min readMumbaiMay 19, 2026 08:09 AM IST
Saif Ali Khan reveals why he quit being a producer.
Saif Ali Khan turned producer with his banner, Illuminati Films, in 2009 with Imtiaz Ali’s hit romantic comedy Love Aaj Kal. He followed it up with Sriram Raghavan’s spy thriller Agent Vinod, Homi Adajania’s rom-com Cocktail in 2012, and Raj and DK’s 2013 zombie comedy Go Goa Gone and 2014 rom-com Happy Ending. But soon after, he wrapped up his production house and co-produced only one film — Nitin Kakkar’s Jawaani Jaaneman (2020) with Vashu Bhagnani’s Pooja Entertainment.
Saif on why he left producing
“I think it can be an extremely thankless job,” Saif tells SCREEN in an exclusive interview. “But it’s very creative. I like the idea of having an idea and discussing some creatives like the sound and look of things. I did enjoy producing, but it can also be a massive pain,” he adds. He also attributes the good run of Illuminati Films to his distribution partner, Eros International, and his producing partner, Dinesh Vijan’s Maddock Films.
“Things move, people move. You see it all over the place. Dinesh has gone on to become a wonderful producer, and that’s great. We had our time, and I did extremely well out of it, and it had a lot to do with what Eros was doing at the time. It was a wonderful opportunity. But some things are meant to last however long they do,” says Saif.
Saif Ali Khan and Dinesh Vijan were producing partners till 2014.
Vijan, who started his career co-producing all the above hits and misses with Saif’s Illuminati Films, is now one of the most successful producers in the Hindi film industry. Maddock Films is the force behind Badlapur (2015), Hindi Medium (2016), Luka Chuppi (2019), Bala (2019), Mimi (2021), Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga (2023), Zara Hatke Zara Bachke (2023), Sky Force (2025), Chhaava (2025), and the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe, consisting of the Stree franchise, Bhediya (2022), Munjya (2024), and Thamma last year. In fact, Vijan has also lent a new lease of life to a couple of films he co-produced with Saif — Love Aaj Kal (2020), starring Saif’s daughter Sara Ali Khan, and the upcoming Cocktail 2, starring Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, and Rashmika Mandanna.
On Shah Rukh Khan as a producer
Meanwhile, Saif was last seen in Pulkit’s crime drama Kartavya on Netflix India, backed by his Kal Ho Naa Ho (2023) co-star Shah Rukh Khan’s production house Red Chillies Entertainment. “Actually, as a producer, he hasn’t made his presence felt in the film. One of the nice things some producers do is give the space and scope to the production. This film has actually been backed by Pulkit. It’s very generous of Red Chillies to do that. We just went to some place in Punjab for a few months, did this film, and came back,” says Saif.
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Red Chillies Entertainment, founded by Shah Rukh and his wife Gauri Khan in 2002, has lined up an eclectic range of films and shows on streaming over the past six years, including Class of ’83 (2020), Bob Biswas (2021), Love Hostel, Darlings (2022), Bhakshak (2024), The Ba***ds of Bollywood (2025), and Kartavya. “The subjects they pick and the people they put together has been really interesting, and continues to be because I believe SRK has great love for cinema. You can feel that in his production,” adds Saif.
English (US) ·