Smoky logic, eh Saif?

Saif Ali Khan made hotel authorities in California install a window in his room because he wanted to smoke indoors. (Is mom Sharmila reading this?)

Saif Ali Khan, who was recently hospitalised with heart complications at the Lilavati Hospital, did take his cigarette breaks rather seriously, if this story is anything to go by.

Flashback to the pre-Lilavati days, to the shoot of Siddharth Anand's Ta Ra Rum Pum. The actor was staying in a plush hotel in Rockingham in North Carolina, during the shoot. However, during his chain-smoking sessions in his room, the actor realised that the room did not have a single window. So the star that he is, Saif had the glass pane replaced with a window so that he could simply open the window and smoke.

According to a source: "The room in which Saif was staying had sealed glass panes but he wanted windows which he could open. He started feeling claustrophobic inside the hotel room. So, he requested the hotel management to install a window which he would be able to open. In fact, none of the rooms in that hotel had windows which could be opened. But Saif agreed to bear all the expenses of replacing the glass pane with a window and the hotel authority agreed." In the film, produced by Yashraj Films, Saif plays the role of a car racer in the film for the first time. Incidentally, this is his second venture with Siddharth Anand.

When asked about his smoky escapade in America, the actor does admit to throwing a fit and getting a window changed. In his words, "I was smoking cigarettes those days and after shooting in that kind of claustrophobic heat, I just couldn't handle the rooms so I got them to make me a window. It was quite sweet of them to do so."

But why didn't he change the hotel instead of getting window installed. "I was checked into a hotel in Rockingham in North Carolina which was on highway and I was in the middle of nowhere, opposite a cemetery. It didn't have any windows in the rooms. It was close to the shooting zone. So I guess they went ahead with the hotel. I had no problem with my accommodation except the window," Saif adds.

It seems that Saif himself accompanied the hotel guys to buy a window and got it installed. "I had to go to Walmart which was the only shop down the road and buy a window and get it installed. It was in fact so starry that they now call it the 'Presidential Suite' because it's got a window that opens!" he laughs.

We're hoping mom Sharmila Tagore isn't reading this. Obviously, she won't be amused.