This director spent all his money in making film, his daughter became dancer to repay the debt, son performed on beach; The popular family is…

Former actor and stuntman Kamran Khan began directing action films starring Dara Singh in the 1960s and 70s. Some of these films included Bekasoor, Watan Se Door, Ilzaam, and Panch Ratan. He was married to Menaka Irani, the sister of former child actors Honey Irani and Daisy Irani, and they had a child together. However, after the birth of their second child, Kamran decided to pursue mainstream filmmaking. He mortgaged all his properties, invested his entire life savings into a project, and signed Sanjeev Kumar as the lead actor.

However, midway through the shooting of the film, actor Sanjeev Kumar walked out of the project, leaving Kamran Khan burdened with a debt of several lakhs. He lost everything overnight, fell into depression, and became addicted to alcohol. His marriage eventually broke down, and he died a lonely death. The family didn’t even have enough money for his funeral and had to borrow funds from his close friend, writer Salim Khan. Today, his children are prominent figures in Bollywood, and what’s commendable is that they remain grounded and remember their roots.

Who are Kamran Khan’s children?

Both of Kamran’s children were young at the time, but they had to start earning on their own to repay their father’s debt. However, they have now become big names in the industry – they are Farah Khan and Sajid Khan. In a recent interaction at the Ajanta Ellora Film Festival, Farah reflected on the kind of chilhood she and her brother Sajid had gone through. “Cinema kept me happy even in the worst of times. During my childhood, when things were bad at home, and parents were fighting, they were separating. The only time I got happiness was when I went to a movie theatre, sat for three hours, and we saw either a Manmohan Desai movie or a Nasir Hussain movie. We used to watch the potboilers at that time. That kept us happy.”

How was Farah Khan’s childhood?

Farah, in the same session, said that she knows no one knows her father and revealed how her father mortgaged all his money and property for a movie. She continued, “I don’t think anyone knows my father’s name, because he used to make B-grade movies with Dara Singh, and they used to be great fun. They were all like Robin Hood Comes to Bombay, Tarzan Comes to Bombay… Dara Singh is roaming around in Tarzan’s kachchha all over Bombay city… Then, the usual happened. He put all his money into one movie, including the house, and it was a washout, and with that, everything went. Then, for the next 13-14 years, my father didn’t work. He didn’t leave the house, and times were very, very bad.”

When Farah Khan and Sajid Khan were struggling financially

In an earlier interaction with journalist Karan Thapar, Farah said that her father died with only Rs 30 in his pocket. She revealed what they did for a living. “I was a spoilt brat before that, and would get whatever I wanted and then suddenly everything changed… 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.”

How Farah Khan’s father died?

Sajid Khan, in an interview with Timeout with Ankit YouTube channel, told the story of his father’s failures. “My father was a filmmaker, who used to make films with Dara Singh. He used to make black-and-white B-grade films. Salim Khan was one of my father’s close friends. When Farah was born, my father was going through a very good time, but when I was born, he gave his first flop. He must’ve thought that he has two kids, and he should expand. He decided to make an A-grade film. He tried to make a big film with Sanjeev Kumar. That film never worked, because it never got made. Halfway through, Sanjeev Kumar abandoned the film and ran away. My father lost all his money. Then he started drinking, he became an alcoholic, my parents got divorced. And I went and stayed with my aunts.”

How Farah Khan started her career?

He continued, “Normally, when parents pass away, they leave some real estate or some money in the bank, or a will. My father left Farah and me with debts. I was 14, she was 17. We had a debt of Rs 3 lakh, in 1984. We were shattered. We had no idea how to earn money. We spoke to those people and told them that we would pay them back bit by bit. Farah started dancing, she started her dance troupe. I started doing mimicry at birthday parties. On Sundays, I’d perform at the beach. I would give the money to Farah, and save some to watch movies.”

When Farah Khan didn’t have money for her father’s funeral

Opening up further about the hardships they experienced in the subsequent years. “We were the only family in our neighbourhood that didn’t have a TV. We had no money. We had just one fan. We didn’t have money to pay for electricity for two weeks. We would sleep in the hall, Farah and me. You work when you don’t have a choice. We did it with a certain amount of dignity, and my mum insisted that we finish our education. She was also working, she was doing housekeeping at a hotel, but she was living separately because she had to go in the morning and she’d come back in the evening. When my father passed away, I went to one of my relatives to ask for money for the funeral. We did not have money for the funeral. It was Salim uncle who gave money for the funeral. Salman’s dad. He gave me money. But that’s life. They can take everything away from you, but they can’t take away your sense of humour,” he said.

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