Holidaying in the south of France with his ladylove Rosa, Saif Ali Khan is incredulous after the best actor National Award for "Hum Tum" because "such light-toned films are never taken seriously".

"For sure my career has done an about-turn after 'Hum Tum'...and now the National Award. I don't believe it!" Saif told IANS.

"As my sister Soha (Ali Khan) rightly said, 'it's not that I wasn't being taken seriously as an actor - I was, after 'Dil Chahta Hai' and 'Ek Hasina Thi' - but such light-toned films are never taken seriously. I always thought it was the so-called serious roles that were taken seriously."

In the same breath, Saif admits doing "Hum Tum" wasn't easy.

"The whole role was a series of dialogues exchanged in a bantering cascade. It was like...Rani would throw me one barb and I'd throw it right back at her...and so it went. At times I'd wonder what the heck Yashraj Films were up to! I should've known better. They always know what they are doing. But how was anyone to know 'Hum Tum' would turn out the way it did?

"I must thank Rani for being such a wonderful co-star. I must say it feels strange to have her get all the popular awards while I get the National Award."

He's also quite surprised by the parameters of the awards. "Isn't commercial cinema generally regarded as a no-no for National Awards? 'Hum Tum' is as commercial as it gets."

Saif admits a great deal of discomfort about the way the popular awards went this year. "Filmfare's 'best actor in a comic role' didn't make me happy at all. I was far more okay with the other popular awards where I was simply nominated in the best actor category. And so what if I didn't win? At least I got nominated in the right category."

Saif finds the National Award so early in his career cool! Estranged wife Amrita Singh actually sent him a congratulatory message.

"Yeah I guess it's quite something, though it hasn't really sunk in yet. And I really, really like what jury head Sudhir Mishra said about my performance being light and yet full of surprises. One doesn't really know whether one is going right with the performance until a recognition like this comes along as a complete surprise. Am I going to get more serious about my career? Who says I wasn't serious otherwise?"

Then as an afterthought he adds, "Hey, has (Amitabh) Bachchan won the National Award? He has? Good. Next time I run into him I can wink at him."

Saif is currently visiting Rosa's family, as he holidays with her and friend Xerxes.

"I'm coming back in a day or two. Now I've Yashraj Films' 'Salaam Namaste', which again is very light in tone. You think the National Awards would try to prove a point again next year, or am I pushing it?"