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Even after years of parting ways, Amrita Singh and Saif Ali Khan’s love story and marriage remains a topic of discussion among their fans. The fact that their 12-year age gap caught eyeballs — with Saif being 12 years younger than the Naam actor — was considered an anomaly at the time. Not just that, their different religious identities were also questioned.
Amrita was born to a Muslim socialite mother, Rukhsana Sultana, and a Punjabi Jat Sikh father, an army officer named Shivinder Singh Virk, while Saif Ali Khan came from the royal Pataudi family. While Saif’s mother and veteran actor Sharmila Tagore had converted to Islam after marrying his father, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, in an old interaction, the Dil Chahta Hai actor admitted that he never forced his first wife to convert to Islam. But what actually happened on their nikaah day, and how their different religious identities confused their daughter Sara Ali Khan, is something that still intrigues many. Let’s find out.
Saif came to Amrita’s house for dinner date, never left
Saif and Amrita met on the sets of a Rahul Rawail film, and Saif was almost immediately smitten by her as he asked her out. Amrita, however, kept her guard up but eventually invited Saif for dinner at her home. That one dinner changed everything.
“By the end of the evening, we kissed each other. I never left her house after that dinner. I used to sleep in another room,” Saif said during an old interaction on Rendezvous with Simi Garewal. While Saif’s mother was aware of his relationship, she was averse to them getting married. Saif continued, “My mother knew about our relationship, but she always told me, ‘I hope you’re happy in your relationship, but don’t get married.’” After a few months of dating, Saif and Amrita tied the knot in an impromptu wedding.
Amrita’s name changed to ‘Aziza’ during nikaah with Saif Ali Khan
Later, designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla revealed details of the couple’s quick wedding and how a maulvi and a Sikh priest were called to perform the rituals. They also revealed how the wedding took place at their friend’s apartment and how Amrita adopted the name ‘Aziza’ during the nikaah ceremony.
Speaking to Namrata Zakaria on her YouTube channel, they said, “We signed as witnesses at their nikaahnama. One fine day, they came to us and said, ‘We want to get married now!’ It was Saif; Dingy was still undecided. They were in love, and he was living with her; it must have been six or eight months. He was ready for it, she was yes-no, yes-no. We lived in one room at the time. We went to a friend of ours, and she offered to host it. She was a single person, living by herself in a beautiful apartment. Abu and I were dressing up Dingy, and we called a maulvi, of course.”
They continued, “There was also a sardarji pandit sitting there. She got ready in whatever fit her, because there was no time… Fortunately, from her mother, she got some fantastic jewellery. Saif wore a bandhgala. Then, the maulvi said, ‘What is your name? Your name has to start with A.’ All four of us started looking at each other, and the pandit says, ‘Aziza’. That was a runaway bride, it was insane. Driving back, her mother called her… Eventually, they took it in their stride.”
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Amrita Singh and Saif Ali Khan divorced after 13 years of marriage. (Photo: Express Archives)
Saif on Amrita not being forced to convert to Islam
However, in an old interaction, Saif shared how he never forced Amrita to convert to Islam after their wedding. “Dingy (Amrita Singh) was never compelled to either convert herself as a Muslim nor was she ever forced to practice and follow the Islamic religion. So right from the beginning in our case it was like ‘To each his own religion’ and even when my kids Sara and Ibrahim were in their growing-up stage, I strictly followed the same principle.”
Saif also shared that he used to babysit their children — Sara and Ibrahim Ali Khan — when Amrita used to visit the gurdwara during their marriage. “So when Dingy used to go for her regular prayer visits to the Gurudwara (temple of the Sikh community), I used to babysit and even later on found time to look after them on all such occasions,” he added.
Saif was ‘worried’ about Sara and Ibrahim’s Islamic roots after separation
However, Saif did admit that he was ‘worried’ about his children knowing about their Islamic roots after he separated from Amrita after 13 years of marriage. “But when we separated, I was more worried about Sara and Ibrahim, who were then in Dingy’s custody. But of course, I had trusted her enough and was very sure Dingy will never try to influence them in any which way and certainly not as far as our religion is concerned,” he said.
This was the time Saif was set to marry his now-wife Kareena Kapoor, and when asked if there was any religious contention in this relationship, he said, “It never made any difference then and it’s not at all going to make any difference now as far as my firm religious beliefs are concerned. Period!”
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Actor Amrita Singh and Saif Ali Khan.
Sara Ali Khan was confused about her religious identity
At the Times Now Summit 2025, Sara Ali Khan admitted that she was confused about her family’s religious identity and how her mother’s words changed everything for her. She said, “I was very young, in school, and even when my parents were married and we used to immigrate together abroad, I used to always wonder… Amrita Singh, Saif Pataudi, Sara Sultana, Ibrahim Ali Khan, what is going on? Who are we? And I remember asking my mom, what am I? And she told me, you are Indian. And I will never forget that.”
Sara often makes headlines for her frequent visits to Hindu temples and shrines like Kedarnath. She regularly posts about the same on social media.
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