By Subhash K. Jha, IANS

Upset over a report in a New York newspaper that he got into a brawl at a bar, Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan says the remarks were "slanderous".

Talking exclusively to IANS, Saif clarified: "I finished my day's work with Siddharth Anand and went to a bar for a drink. The owner was a young Indian. He asked me for a couple of pictures with his cousins. He offered to pay for my drinks and told me to come back any time. He was really polite, and so was I.

"The next thing I know is the New York Post carries an article that says I had a fight with Rani Mukherjee on the sets, which was bullshit, and that I threw my weight around the bar which was slanderous. It's okay to write about an argument on the sets, though I didn't have one. But this?"

So are the remarks incorrect?

"Misbehaving in public and being a bad boy isn't my scene. If anyone believes this then I've a lot to be worried about. I've never misbehaved in public. Someone calls me up from Mumbai and point blank asks if I was thrown out of the bar. It was very humiliating. My immediate reaction was to sue the Post. But now I've decided to dismiss it as nasty Page 6 gossip.

"Incidentally, they called me the hunky millionaire who behaved like he owned the bar. I don't mind the 'hunky millionaire' bit!" he chuckled.

Saif has learnt to take it all in his stride.

"What do I do? Every day on the Internet there's something objectionable about my family or me. I saw this rude comment about my parents...something about them being celebrities from the 18th century. I can't take rude comments like these about my family.

"I'm abroad working. Since they've nothing to write about me, they jump on some putrid information from a gossip section of a NY paper. I hope people back home know it's pretty much impossible to throw me out of anywhere!

"You know, I now think kindly towards all those stars who've had the reputation of an enfant terrible. I won't say it was all undeserved. But now? I was nothing but a humble patron in the bar. I was shocked, because my memory of the evening was how nice I was being to them. 'Well done, Saif,' I kept telling myself."

How has the shooting schedule for "Tara Rum Pam Pam" been so far?

"It's been good. Though it's been a long time away from home and I do miss my loved ones."

After "Omkara", Saif is being seen as one of the most talented actors of the country.

"Good, that's what I always wanted. But what do I do now? I've to take some serious career decisions after I return," the actor added.