Saif Ali Khan got married to Amrita Singh in 1991 and they separated in 2004. They have two children together – Sara Ali Khan and Ibrahim Ali Khan. As they had an inter-faith wedding, Saif never forced Amrita to convert to his religion. Though, his mother Sharmila Tagore converted to Islam after marrying Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Saif has maintained that he never expected Amrita to do the same. Which is why, even their children grew up embracing the religion of both their parents, but when initially, they got divorced, Saif did have concerns about the religious faith of his children. In an old interview with The Siasat Daily, as quoted by NDTV, Saif had said, “Dingy was never compelled to convert to Islam or forced to practice the religion. Right from the beginning, it was ‘to each his own.’ Even when my kids Sara and Ibrahim were growing up, I strictly followed that principle.”He also recalled how religious practices were handled at home while they were together. “When Dingy went for her regular prayer visits to the Gurdwara—the temple of the Sikh community—I babysat them and continued doing so on such occasions,” Saif shared.However, things changed emotionally for him after the divorce, when Sara Ali Khan and Ibrahim Ali Khan remained in Amrita’s custody. “But when we separated, I was more worried about Sara and Ibrahim, who were then in Dingy’s custody. I trusted her completely and was sure she wouldn’t influence them religiously,” he said, adding that he did have concerns about their religious identities post-separation.In an interview recently, designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla once revealed behind-the-scenes details of Saif and Amrita’s hastily arranged wedding. Speaking to Namrata Zakaria on her YouTube channel, they recalled being witnesses to the ceremony. “We signed as witnesses at their nikaahnama. One fine day, they came to us and said, ‘We want to get married now!’ It was Saif; Dingy was still undecided. They had been in love and living together for six or eight months. He was ready; she was yes-no, yes-no. We lived in one room at the time. We went to a friend’s place—she was single and had a beautiful apartment. Abu and I dressed Dingy, and we called a maulvi, of course,” they said.The designers also revealed that the ceremony included elements from both faiths. “There was also a sardarji pandit there. She got ready in whatever fit, as there was no time. Fortunately, she got fantastic jewelry from her mother. Saif wore a bandhgala. Then the maulvi said, ‘What is your name? It has to start with A.’ We all looked at each other, and the pandit suggested ‘Aziza.’ It was a runaway bride moment—insane. Driving back, her mother called… Eventually, they took it in stride.”
