Fardeen Khan took break to cope with father Feroz Khan’s death, faced challenges having children: ‘Regret at many levels’

The actor also spoke about becoming a father and how the challenging route of IVF and then having a daughter occupied all his time. He said, “We were having challenges having children, and that’s when we decided to take the IVF route. That’s why I needed to take some time off. It wasn’t meant to be this long. I thought only for a few years…get everything settled, but things didn’t happen that way. Then, when my daughter was born, my heart melted, and I thought, let’s spend some time with her.”

However, Fardeen admitted that he regrets not getting back to work sooner. “But I was fortunate that I had the luxury to take that time off. It wasn’t deliberate or conscious, but having said that, when I look back, I wish I hadn’t taken such a long break. Definitely a regret on many levels,” he said.

In 2016, paparazzi photos of Fardeen Khan went viral, bringing a barrage of trolls against the actor’s weight gain. Fardeen, who wasn’t on social media at the time, was surprised by the sudden attention and called it a tough time. He said, “I was never active on social media, so that was my first welcome. It was a revelation of sorts that it can go to this extent. It was a tough time, but this business teaches you to have thick skin, and sometimes you have to take it on the chin. I was surprised because I had cut off from the industry for many years, so to get that kind of attention in itself surprised me. It wasn’t positive for me, but it taught me a lot. It was a good introduction to the social media age that we live in. You can take it philosophically or humorously, but you can’t let it break your spirit.”

On the professional front, Fardeen will next be seen in Visfot, which also stars Sheeba Chaddha, Riteish Deshmukh, and Priya Bapat in pivotal roles. It is directed by Kookie Gulati.