Soha Ali Khan was spending her entire Rs 2 lakh salary from banking job on rent, her first film salary was 5 times her annual income

Soha Ali Khan shared that at this time, she wanted to change her career but felt that her parents – veteran actor Sharmila Tagore and cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi – might get upset with her decision as she had had a good education in finance and international relations. “When I was paying Rs 17,000 rent, I had a job in a bank but then I wanted to change to films, and I knew that my parents could possibly get upset with this but I could take that decision because I was earning my own money and I didn’t have to be answerable or accountable to anyone but having said that, I knew that even though I am making my own money, there is a safety net. If I need something, I can ask for it from my parents and other people don’t have that. So somewhere along the way, that gives you the confidence to take certain decisions in life,” she said.

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Soha shared that her salary at this time was Rs 2,20,000 per annum. “Of course, there were some perks with that. There would be an allowance for commuting and rent and you could claim some expenses but now that would be nothing. And this was what you got after being a post graduate and this was a good job,” she said.

Soha Ali Khan shared that the first opportunity that started to change her mind was a modelling contract for Rs 5 lakh. “I was going to earn Rs 5 lakh but that was for a year. Here, I was working every day to earn Rs 2.2 lakh, but there I would be working for one day and then it would be an exclusive contract for a year but there’s no long term strategy in that. I didn’t know where I would be in this career after one year but how many people at that age think like that,” she said.

Soha Ali Khan’s family owns the Pataudi Palace. (Photo: Trident Group/YouTube)

Soha shared that soon afterwards, she got her first film Dil Maange More, which paid her Rs 10 lakh. “My offer was Rs 10 lakh or something, for Dil Maange More. And that was a huge amount of money so I was thinking, I definitely want to do this and I will think about the rest later,” she shared.

Soha Ali Khan had previously shared that she left her job after she received an offer from Amol Palekar for Paheli but that didn’t materialise. So at that point, she did not have a job, and had also lost the film offer. Things eventually worked out when Soha carved a film career for herself.