Saif to go on paternity leave

Saif will take a month off, Chef director Raja Krishna Menon confirms to Subhash K Jha.

Imran Khan started a new trend in the Hindi film industry of expectant fathers taking time off for the arrival of their babies.

After Imran it was Shahid Kapoor who put Vishal Bhardwaj's Rangoon on hold to be with his wife Mira until their baby was born.

Saif Ali Khan has now decided to take time off to be with his wife Kareena Kapoor's first born.

Saif will wrap up work on the current schedule of Chef, the Indian adaptation of Jon Favreau's Chef where Saif plays a chef, and proceed on a month-long paternity leave.

Confirming this, Chef director Raja Krishna Menon says, "Yes, Saif takes a month off after a small schedule of my film in early December."

Saif and Kareena's friends say the couple intends to devote all their time to their baby when it is born in December.

Saif will ease back into work with the next schedule of Chef in January.

Kareena will spend as much time with the baby as she wants before starting her next film, Veera Di Wedding with Sonam Kapoor.

Saif learnt cooking for Chef from Himanshu Taneja, executive chef at the J W Marriott hotel in Mumbai.

Saif has promised to cook a yummy meal for the Chef team before the shooting is done.

Photograph: Pradeep Bandekar