So you’re a heroine now!
For the past 20 years, I’ve been on the set as a choreographer and director. So to face the camera required getting used to. I get impatient with getting my hair and make-up done and putting on fake nails. I’d always wonder why actresses are in a bad mood early in the morning. Now I understand. I need more than an hour to get ready. Of course, there are some who take four hours. Then you do one shot and wait for two-three hours for the next. (Laughs) I guess that’s why people have love affairs on the sets, out of sheer boredom. Now I’ll probably empathise with my heroines, or maybe torture them more.
Did you fear being laughed at?
People don’t do a lot of things in life thinking that they will be laughed at. We also laugh at some people who dare to be different. But those very movies become hits. You should follow your heart. Sanjay (Leela Bhansali, producer) told me, ‘Who gets a chance like this?’ I’m 47 and married with three kids and debuting as a heroine. It’s unheard of.
How did the children react to you being on the screen?
My daughters, Diva and Anya, get excited watching me on screen. But my son Czar looks through Boman Irani. He doesn’t like his mother wearing a dress either. He’s possessive about me. Even when Shirish hugs or kisses me, he gets irritated and tries pulling us apart. At times, we do it simply to annoy him.
Why did you suddenly undergo surgery for fat reduction? You always seemed comfortable with yourself.
After I saw the rushes of Shirin Farhad... I thought it was time to see a doctor. At 3 pm, the movie was wrapped up and at 4 pm I was at the doctor’s clinic to schedule the surgery. Yes, I’ve always been comfortable with myself but now that I have knocked off 10 kilos I’m more comfortable. I was always a scrawny girl. I put on weight much later and much more after the babies came. Actually, I should have done it before the movie.
But why did you announce the surgery, given the fact that everyone keeps it a secret?
I didn’t announce it as such. Actually, I’ve been quite open about everything — even about having my kids through IVF (In-Vitro Fertilisation). I was not doing anything illegal or something that was banned in India. And if someone compliments me, how can I lie that I’m on a diet or that I go to the gym regularly? I can’t be lying 10 times a day. And if admitting it helps other people, then why not? It’s just a cosmetic surgery that helps you look and feel better. There was no other way the weight was going.
How have your children taken to this new look?
My children were upset. I was their double bed. But my mom was quite happy; she’d been nagging me forever to lose weight.
How do you manage the children despite such a hectic career?
When the babies were younger, it was easier to shoot a movie and return home. All they did was drink milk and sleep. But now they are four and everything revolves around them. No matter where I am, I will get a call at 4 pm sharp asking me, ‘Where are you? We have to go to a party’. But now, they also know about their parents’ profession. It’s fun showing them our movies. All of us sitting on the bed and watching Shirish play karate with Czar or watching Teletubbies is the best part of my life.
After giving two superhits like Om Shanti Om (OSO) and Main Hoon Na, Tees Maar Khan (TMK) got a lukewarm response…
Not lukewarm, it was like, ‘Let’s rip it to pieces now’. They wanted to destroy me. But in my opinion, there are far worse movies that did well. But because I had made OSO and Main Hoon Na, the expectations were far higher. Also, people hadn’t got a chance to rip me in 20 years. And somewhere it was also a case of misplaced loyalty towards Shah Rukh (Khan). I have discussed this attitude with Shah Rukh as well. Nevertheless, I take full blame for the movie. But Happy New Year will be five times better than the best movie I have made.
Why did Happy New Year take so long?
Films have their own destiny. I believe that even more now. They will be made only when they have to be made. And who has to act in the movie will finally be in it. It was always planned with Shah Rukh. But the script wasn’t ready and finally, when it was, I was not talking to Shah Rukh. But things changed, we got back together and it all happened organically. Nothing was decided. The patch-up happened out of a terrible thing (SRK had reportedly got into a scuffle with Farah’s husband Shirish at a party thrown by Sanjay Dutt early this year). Something good came out of it and we all came back to our senses.
What exactly happened that night?
I don’t know. There are various versions floating. The fact is that Shah Rukh was apologetic, Shirish was feeling terrible. I was in shock. Gauri (Khan) was feeling awful. Sajid (Khan), Karan (Johar) and Sajid (Nadiadwala) made sure that we at least went to each other’s houses and spoke. Once we entered Mannat, it was like those two-and-a-half years hadn’t happened. And between the four of us — SRK, Gauri, Shirish and I — we decided that whatever may have happened in these last two years had to go down the drain. We began on a clean slate. Now things are much better. No one is taking anyone for granted. Having lost it once, everyone’s being extra-protective about the relationships now.
What did you go through in those two days when the incident became national news?
Those were the worst two days of my life. If it hadn’t been sorted out, we would have felt terrible every single day of our lives, not only my husband but also Shah Rukh. People enjoyed jumping into it for no reason, revelling in it and spreading a hundred rumours. The same people would call up Shah Rukh and me with different stands. They’d tell me, ‘So bad of him, he shouldn’t have done this!’ and then call him up and say, ‘Very good you did this.’ Everyone on Twitter was at it. We’ve worked hard to reach where we are. This is not what we should be known for. We also realised that we had become items in a comedy circus. I’m happy we sorted it out before it got really bad. It takes a big heart to apologise. We all did that but people were not happy with it. That means we did the right thing.
Soon after the incident, news of SRK and you working together came as a shock...
It was Shirish who asked me to go ahead. Whatever happened between Shirish and Shah Rukh, they sorted it amongst themselves. SRK swore, ‘I just held him, I never raised my hand on him’. I can’t believe the various versions reported in the media. I am going by what Shirish and SRK have told me.
Shirish is friendly with Salman Khan, someone with whom SRK is not. Does that put you in a tight spot?
Shirish hardly meets Salman. The film Kick was supposed to happen long ago. I don’t know when it’ll start. And Salman has always been fond of Shirish, even though Shirish is not over-friendly with him. What I love about Salman is that even when people were running down Shirish after his first film (Jaan-e-Mann) didn’t do well, Salman stood by him. People will forget how good a film is if it doesn’t do well and forget how bad it was if it does well at the box-office. In our industry, success and failure are the only yardsticks, no one talks about talent or how innovative someone has been.
You come across as happy-go-lucky. What’s the real Farah like?
Most of the times, I am the way you see me. The only thing I stress about is when it comes to Shirish. He is the most misunderstood person in the industry. If he’s quiet and shy, he’s taken as being arrogant. When he says something, people infer something else. They think he’s had it easy. He clearly hasn’t. It’s a burden for him that he’s married to me. He gets the wrong end of the stick every time and I get tensed about that. I wish people’s perspective would change. He makes different movies, shoots them differently and because they can’t shoot the way he does, they want to run him down.
Who wears the pants in the house?
Shirish completely! Once I come back home, I am a homemaker. I’ll shop for groceries and all, I check with him for everything, whether it’s about the kids, the house or my career decisions. We have a talk every morning and he gives me the correct advice, never forcing his decisions on me. I’m lucky to have a husband who does that.
