"We had to actually pull out of another place that we had almost finalized because the property was under some kind of dispute. In fact the same property was offered to me again. But I decided I preferred an apartment to a bungalow.
There's no view left in the bungalows of Mumbai. If you're higher up you have a nice open view and also you're spared the mosquitoes, and you can call it a home. Earlier I was apprehensive about a high-rise home.
I felt you paid so much money for a slab of the sky which could crumble to the dust at any time and then you own nothing."
Saif chuckles, "It's crazy, but they charge you so much money for a box on top of another. Still I want an apartment and not a bungalow. It's got something to do with living in Mumbai. Even if I own a bungalow with a garden I don't know how much I'd enjoy sitting in it."
Saif is moving into a high-rise apartment in Bandra. "I think Inshan Aallah, we'll be moving into our new place within a week. I don't want to give out the location until I move in. I'm not superstitious, in fact defiantly just the opposite. But I don't want anything to go wrong this time with my new home."
Talking immediately after his return to Mumbai from shooting a potato-chips-ad in Jaipur, Saif sounded tired but happy about his new place of residence.
So is Saif doing a plethora of product endorsements to pay for his new home? "I don't know if I'm doing too many ads. I don't do films for money. And if the ads pay well and if they complement my image, then why not?
It's mutually beneficial to both me and the companies that sign me on. They do a lot of research before signing me And if it's the correct brand it offers me a positive visibility. Through my ads I project a personality that brings you closer to the audience.
And most of these ads are fun to shoot. But the ads have to play it safe. Because the client can reject the ad at any given time. I wish there was the same transparency in the dealings of cinema."
Saif admits his new home was a major reason for endorsing such a large number of products. "One has to realize one's dreams in ways that are practical and not a compromise. As long as I don't endorse the wrong kind of products I'm comfortable doing it."