As actor Saif Ali Khan draws accolades for his performance in "Salaam Namaste", Yash Chopra is signing him for another film under the Yashraj banner with director Siddharth Anand.

However, the Yashraj banner is not the only one where Saif has become a hot favourite. Post-"Parineeta", producer Vinod Chopra has also been singing praises about Saif and signed him for a powerful role in his new film that was initially titled "Yagna".

Filmmaker Sudhir Mishra, who chaired the jury that gave Saif the National Award for best actor, considers him a great performer and dismisses criticism that followed his selection for the award.

"I am glad that the industry is now realising his potential. When we chose him for the National Award in 'Hum Tum', there was scepticism from certain quarters about our choice. I was very disappointed that the industry did not stand up in Saif's defence when fingers were being pointed at him. There was not a single person from the industry who publicly congratulated him on his achievement. They will probably do that now as he proves himself in his films," says Mishra.