Vivek Agnihotri: “Not targeting Saif Ali Khan, but no Indian should name child Taimur”

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri has responded to the ongoing buzz that his upcoming film ‘The Bengal Files’ takes a dig at Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan for naming their son Taimur.

In a recent interview with The Raunac Show, he explained that the dialogue in the trailer was not aimed at the star couple personally, but he firmly stood by his opinion that Indians should not name their children after historical figures who caused destruction in the country.

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The controversy goes back to 2016, when Saif and Kareena named their firstborn Taimur Ali Khan. The choice of name sparked a massive backlash because of its association with the 14th-century conqueror Timur, who is remembered for his brutal invasion of Delhi in 1398.

At the time, the couple admitted that the criticism was so intense that they briefly considered changing their son’s name.

Also Read: Vivek Agnihotri slams political pressure over ‘The Bengal Files’ trailer release

When asked on the show if his film directly referenced Saif and Kareena’s child, Vivek Agnihotri replied, “A lot of people are named Taimur. Saif wasn’t the first person to do this.”

He went on to share his own experience of visiting Timur’s tomb in Samarkand while filming ‘The Tashkent Files’. There, he recalled, he read an inscription praising Timur as the conqueror of the world’s richest sultanate, the Delhi Sultanate.

Agnihotri highlighted why he finds the glorification of such a figure unacceptable in India. “Timur massacred one lakh people in a single night. He destroyed everything from Delhi to Kashmir. He raped, looted and left behind devastation. Yes, he is a hero in his own country, but for us, he is not someone to look up to. No Indian should even think of naming their child after him,” he said.