Fardeen Khan says his father Feroz Khan ‘took out loans’ to make movies, recalls times when they faced financial crunch: ‘There were some tough days’

Actor Fardeen Khan, who was recently seen in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Heeramandi, opened up about his childhood and how his famous father, movie star Feroz Khan, took out loans to fund his projects. Fardeen looked back on his childhood, and shared that there were times when the Khan family cut back on vacations, and have smaller celebrations when the going got tough. While they were shielded from the harsh world, they were taught to learn the value of hard work, he said. Fardeen also shared that his mother worked as a flight attendant in Air India, and supported her family. Talking to Pinkvilla, Fardeen shared, “My father turned producer with his first film, Apradh, which released in 1972. In those days, you were personally financially responsible.” Fardeen said that producers “were taking loans” to make their own movies on high interest rates, and it was “scary for everyone.” “Yes, we have seen days that have been difficult. My upbringing was very real. In fact, we were shielded as much as possible from the industry. not made to feel entitled at all about having a parent who was famous,” he said. Fardeen said that while his parents made sure that they were always financially secure, but beyond that “we were left to our own, we had to manage.” “Both my parents were working, both self-made. My mother too, she was with Air India for about 9 years. She was a flight attendant. She has also worked, she supported her family. My father is self-made. They know the value of things. They know how hard it was to get things done. It was very important for them to teach us,” he shared. ALSO READ | Is Malayalam cinema really ‘the best in India’? Filmmakers, experts list the strengths, limitations of industry Fardeen recalled that every year, they would go for a monthlong family vacation, but there were times that did not happen. Sometimes, due to a financial crunch, they would “have a smaller birthday party.” He immediately added that “it wasn’t like there was no food on the table.” He concluded, “I don’t want to trivialise. I know life is tough for a lot of people and I don’t want to make my story sound like ‘seen tough days or whatever’. Yes, everything is relative so from that context there were some tough days, there were some tough months, tough periods.”