"Can't get over how lucky I was."
On Koffee With Karan, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan recalled the terrifying knife attack at their Mumbai home, which saw Saif stabbed six times.
Speaking to Karan Johar, Saif said his instinct to fight back was driven largely by the need to protect their younger son, Jehangir Ali Khan.
He explained: “It’s all happening too quickly. I think, perhaps because of Hindi cinema, I attacked him in the first place. I was outraged that he was standing over my son with a [weapon].
“Can’t get over how lucky I was.”
Kareena also recalled the desperate moments that followed:
“I was screaming on the road. I was like, ‘Stop, stop.’ It was like a movie scene. I didn’t have the time to put on my pyjamas.
“I was in my T-shirt, running like a mad, crazy woman trying to get a rickshaw while he was bleeding.”
Kareena admitted that she feared she might lose her husband as the family tried to get him medical attention. Recalling seeing her husband in the lift, she described the moment as particularly frightening.
“I looked at Saif in the lift, and when I saw him I was like, ‘Saif, don’t do this’.”
Their eldest son, Taimur Ali Khan, was also present during the aftermath and asked his father a question that left the family shaken.
Kareena revealed: “The first thing Tim (Taimur) said was, ‘Abba are you going to die?'”
Despite the severity of his injuries, Saif said he had a sense that he would survive.
The actor was taken to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai in an auto rickshaw, accompanied by Taimur and a person named Hari. The stabbing had caused significant blood loss, while an injury to his spinal cord left him with reduced sensation in his leg before he reached the hospital.
Saif Ali Khan also revealed that the knife used in the attack had broken during the stabbing, leaving a piece lodged in his back.
Looking back at the incident, he made light of the weapon’s poor quality, suggesting it may have saved his life.
“I felt there was something in my back, and there was this chunk of knife that had broken off. It was the worst knife in the history of knives.
“If it had been a slightly good knife, I would be dead. But it was such a bad knife that it broke.”
The couple also spoke about the support they received from their family during Saif’s recovery, particularly from his older children, Ibrahim Ali Khan and Sara Ali Khan.
Saif recalled how both were there when he woke up following surgery, with Ibrahim visibly struggling to contain his emotions.
While Saif eventually recovered from his injuries, the incident continued to affect the family long after he left hospital.
Kareena stated: “It’s been the worst.”
On the show, she told her husband: “You were so composed and elegant when you came out of hospital that it spun a different narrative online.
“And then there was an array of conspiracy theories, which were ridiculous.
“People couldn’t understand why there was no driver at home. Why not? He goes home to his family in the evening.”
