Akshay Kumar & Saif Ali Khan Movies Together List — 6 Films

The shape of the work

The 1990s account for 83% of everything they made together. The 1990s belonged to Main Khiladi Tu Anari; the 2000s to Tashan. Akshay Kumar acted in every film; Saif Ali Khan acted in all of them. Strictly Hindi cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• For 'Main Khiladi Tu Anari', Akshay was already a rising action star, but Saif was struggling. The director, Sameer Malkan, paired them specifically to give Saif a hit — and it worked. Saif later said Akshay's star power pulled the film through.
• In 'Yeh Dillagi', Akshay played the serious brother and Saif the goofy one. But on set, they swapped roles off-camera: Saif would constantly crack jokes to make Akshay laugh during romantic scenes, breaking his 'action hero' composure.
• Their 1996 film 'Tu Chor Main Sipahi' was a direct inspiration for the 2005 Hollywood buddy-cop comedy 'The Man' starring Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy — the plot of a straight-laced cop forced to protect a goofy witness is almost identical.
• During the shoot of 'Keemat: They Are Back' in 1998, Akshay and Saif shared a vanity van for weeks because the budget was tight. They'd play cards between shots, and Saif once lost so badly he had to pay for Akshay's dinner for a month.
• Saif on Akshay: 'He taught me how to throw a punch and land a joke in the same scene. I owe my comic timing to watching him work in 'Main Khiladi Tu Anari'.'
• In 'Tashan' (2008), their last film together, Akshay played the loud, over-the-top villain while Saif was the cool, understated hero. They deliberately swapped their usual screen personas — Akshay said it was 'the only way to keep it fresh after six films'.