Over the years, Farah Khan has created a niche for herself in various domains- as an ace filmmaker and choreographer. She has delivered blockbusters like ‘Main Hoon Na’ and ‘Om Shanti Om.’ However, the success was hard for her to achieve. Her father, filmmaker and stuntman Kamran Khan, passed away penniless. This left Farah to take responsibility for herself at the age of 15. This was because one Friday box office turned her life completely after Kamran Khan’s film tanked at the box office.

During an old conversation on Rendezvous with Simi Garewal, Farah Khan opened up on her turbulent past. “I could make a tragedy out of my childhood, my trauma, and my parents splitting up. My father literally died penniless with just Rs 30 in his pocket. You can get bitter and angry with the world, but I choose to remember the happy times.” After Kamran Khan, Farah and her brother, filmmaker Sajid Khan started masking their pain with laughter. “We remember that time with a lot of laughter. Sajid and I tell funny stories about how sometimes my father would get really angry, take out his gun, and everyone would run for cover. It has all become a funny story now, which I think is a nicer way to remember it.”

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Moreover, the filmmaker reflected on her childhood and how box office collections shifted relationship dynamics within the film industry. Since she hailed from a film family, Bollywood parties at her home were frequent. However, with every new box office collection report, relationships changed. One particular Friday turned things haywire for the family. Her father’s film ‘Aisa Bhi Hota Hai’ tanked at the box office and comfort turned to poverty.

In an old interview with Karan Thapar on Itvindia, Farah recalled the day. “The film released on Friday and by Sunday we were below poverty line. It was pretty bad and I was six years old at the time. I was a spoiled brat before that and would get whatever I wanted and then suddenly everything changed.” To make ends meet, the family had to sell of bulk of their goods.

“Only the house remained, and everything else went. The cars, my mom’s jewellery, the gramophone—everything. Finally, we were left with an empty house, two sofas, and a fan. We even rented out the drawing room for a few hours. People would come, organize a kitty party, play cards in the room, give us some money in return, and leave. That’s how the house was running for a couple of years.”

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Today, Farah Khan is known as an ace choreographer who has worked on over 200 tracks. She is also a successful filmmaker and has delivered smashing box office hits right from ‘Main Hoon Na.’ Now, she is also a content creator with a successful YouTube channel.