Farah Khan says father became an alcoholic, penniless family had to rent home to gamblers for food: ‘I am insecure about money even today’

‘My mother would give room to gamblers to play; that’s how we bought groceries’

In one of the videos, Sania asked Farah about the impact of financial problems and her father’s alcoholism. “It was uncertain. We had a whole floor and then we started selling flats. Finally, we came to a one hall and one bedroom, after coming from five bedrooms and a huge hall, which he couldn’t sell because they were under my mom’s name. So that hall, in the afternoon, that was given to the people to come and play cards,” she replied.

The filmmaker revealed that those people used to put Rs 5 each in the kitty for the family’s basic survival the next day. “Those Rs 30-35 were used to buy milk for the next day, little bhaaji and my dad’s quarter or half bottle. If they didn’t come to play for whatever reason, there was no milk for the next day. If two extra people came, we used to get excited that now we will get mutton today.”

She further added, “It was literally that hand to mouth. It’s a very depressive place to come back from. To see my dad like that, I can smell alcohol so well whenever I travel, it triggers a childhood memory for me. I used to stay in the college till 6:30-7 so that I didn’t have to go home. Till now, I am insecure about money. I understood why my dad took to alcohol.”

Farah Khan says she has made the ‘maximum money’ from her vlog with cook Dilip.

Farah was ready with a script, but vlogging became more lucrative

During the candid chat, Farah Khan was also asked about the approach behind venturing into YouTube vlogging and year ago. “As you grow older, you care less about things. At that time, I had just finished a new script of a film that I want to make, and I knew I had to wait for two more years. I didn’t want to be angsty and wake up with uncertainty everyday, have done that in my young days. I thought I’ll just try doing YouTube, I didn’t plan it and something about it hit the bullseye,” she expressed. She started the vlog with her cook Dilip who now has become a star in his own rights and is doing multiple brand shoots of his own. Her channel has over 2.7 million subscribers.

The Main Hoon Na director also opened up about her vlog journey, “The first few times it was only Dilip and me. And, I needed one person with me to roast because that’s who I am. I was very clear that we shouldn’t depend on celebs. If they come, that’s good, if they don’t, the show should still run on its own. I tell brands also that you can’t tell me to only bring big celebs, everyone is an equal.”

‘Dilip is doing brand shoots, cooking; tells me not to disturb him’

Talking about Dilip’s gaining popularity through their cooking show, Farah said, “Dilip is now the brand ambassador of all the stars. I’ll have a long line of cooks waiting to audition for me now. I teach him first, but now he does cook better than me. He is everyday doing it, he is better now. He copies really well. If he makes chicken today, it will have the same taste ten days later, so there’s consistency. Dilip has become quite the diva. He is always like he has to go for shoots, cook also, so don’t disturb me.”

Sania Mirza called him the main character of their vlogs and said that her video will get viral now that she is in it. “Dilip has two more brand shoots, let’s let him go now,” Farah said. Before he finally left, the tennis maestro handed over a few gifts to him. She told Farah while smiling, “There are gifts only for him, not for you,” leaving her stunned.

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