Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan faced the wrath of many people when they named their son Taimur...
Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan have been blessed with their first child together. A baby boy who they have named Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi. And the moment they announced the name, there has been huge furore on social media with some slamming Saif for naming his kid after a barbaric ruler.
Now, during promotions for his next film, Saif spoke to NDTV at length about the issue and made some tongue-in-cheek statements too. When asked about the entire fiasco, Saif responded saying, "I have known a few people called Taimur while I was growing up and there was no drama involved in their names. It was called iron, it's a strong and beautiful sounding name. Yes, I am aware that there is a Turkish ruler who is possibly a little violent but that was the whole violent. But I think that's the whole point. If you have to be a conquering ruler, you have to be a little violent."
He also adds that he didn't 'name Taimur after him'. "That was Timur and this is Taimur. It might sound similar because it has similar roots. Also, to judge the past by today's lens is a little far out. A name doesn't really mean anything. Asoka is a violent name then. There's Alexander too."
He refuted all such comments syaing that he 'wanted an international name' for his baby. "I am aware that there's a certain amount of Islamophobia in the entire world today and if, as Muslims - I don't know if we think of myself in a religious way - somehow kind of own it, then who will? I cannot name my son Alexander and realistically, I could not have called him Ram. Why not a nice Muslim name? And hopefully, bring him up with nice values of secularism, where we love and respect each other. And that's the end of the name."
But before he moved on, he wanted to add 'another point'. "One of Taimur's most able generals was his son and his name was Shah Rukh. (Laughs) So if we start getting into what names are right or wrong, then we would be changing everyone's names. Like Calcutta airport."
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 "Saif Ali Khan on the Taimur row")
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