FilmiKudhi texted me this morning to let me know, and I knew I had to put up a post about it, this is just too big not to talk about.

Rumors are flying and the story keeps changing, but what is clear is about around 3am, police and emergency services came to Saif’s house, Saif was rushed to the hospital and into surgery, he has been seriously wounded including into his spinal column.

If it happened in Saif’s home at 3am, it’s clear that there was an intruder and Saif was not at fault. But beyond that, the story keeps changing. Was it a thief? A stalker? How did he get in?

This is a terrifying story to hear about anyone, Saif’s two small children were asleep in his home when all this violence took place. It’s every parents’ nightmare. And everyone is struggling for an explanation, blame, a way to make this tidy and less random. Because if it is fully random, that means it could happen to anyone including you.

This happened in Bandra right in the middle of the actors colony, one of the wealthiest suburbs of Bombay. This was a strike at the heart of the film industry geographically, and also personally since Saif and Kareena are both so embedded. It’s shaken them all up. Pooja Bhatt is going hard on blaming the police. She is arguing on twitter that Bandra has been sliding for years, regular police patrols were cut down and there’s an increase in pavement dwellers, trash piles, minor street crime. This is a real thing that is known in criminology, when a neighborhood has these visible signs that it is being forgotten, that law is falling down a bit, it cause a spike in violent crimes as well. Violent criminals see those signs and, consciously or subconsciously, start thinking of the area as an easier mark.

That’s possible, a criminal took a risk and broke into a fancy Bandra building because he thought he could get away with it, but it’s also possible that Saif’s family in particular was targeted. Back in the 90s, when the mob was hitting the Hindi film industry hard, threats and attacks like this would happen. It’s a warning to others to pay off protection money or it could happen to you. That’s one possibility.

Another possibility is a stalker attacker. Saif and Kareena are both very famous and, more terrifying, so are their small children. Taimur was controversial literally from birth, hate speech spreading because of the choice to name him after a Muslim ruler. Was there someone who either loved or hated this family so much that he broke into their house and, when Saif tried to throw him out, attacked?

This is not the first time Saif has been attacked in this way. A few years back he was booked and arrested for a fight in a restaurant. In that case, he said that a group of three people had started angrily yelling at him, his wife, and their guest for no particular reason, and one of them had attacked him with a cane. The other group said that Saif was drunk and loud and the “cane” was wielded by an old man who needed it to help walk. It looked bad for Saif, and then by golly it turned out he was in the right. The other group, who claimed they “didn’t know who he was” included a former actress/model who had worked with them before, witnesses etc. confirmed that Saif was randomly approached by this group who were clearly looking to start a fight for the publicity.

This case is not for publicity, the attacker is on the run right now not talking to reporters. But the past history shows us Saif is someone who will fight to defend his family himself, even when it may not seem like the smartest thing to do. I’m keeping that in mind for this story because Saif, himself, fighting the attacker is remarkable. The building has security, I’m sure the family has security as well, and there are servants. But from past history, we know that Saif is someone who will take things into his own hands. With someone else, I would say the fact he was the only one attacked means he was the target. With Saif, it could mean he made himself the target.

The whole thing is just so disturbing, and so sad. Right now it is exciting and mysterious, but in a few months it’s going to be a father of 4 struggling with physical therapy, trying to get himself back to who he was before, as his kids process the trauma and changes of their life, and his wife shoulders the burden of caregiver. Not to mention the boring dragging financial burden. Saif had multiple films signed that now he can’t do, and he has been open about their tight financial status before (trying to make as much money as possible in order to buy back his family estate). They will always still be rich-poor, I don’t think there’s any chance of this family letting go of servants or anything, but that drag of the financial changes in the household on top of the physical, emotional, everything else is just sad. It’s all sad and hard and not fair

At least this family has a strong support system around them. Not in terms of wealth and power, just steady sustaining whatever you need kind of closeness. The one thing that surprises me least is that Sanjay Dutt showed up at their house to offer help first thing this morning. Kareena’s parents, Kareena’s best friend (Malaika), and of course Sanjay Dutt. Because he always shows up for anyone who needs him. He’s the one brave enough to just come to the house, but he won’t be the last to help. In the background, where we can’t see, I am sure there are phone calls flying, visits, gifts sent, arrangements made, everything possible done to help this family that is in trouble and is also “one of us”.