Renowned filmmaker and choreographer Farah Khan, known for her candid and unfiltered opinions, recently shared her thoughts on nepotism, personal insecurities, and her evolving creative journey. Appearing on tennis star Sania Mirza’s podcast Serving It Up with Sania, the 60-year-old filmmaker reflected on the realities of being an outsider in Bollywood and the resentment many feel toward star kids.
Farah admitted she empathizes with the frustration outsiders experience when they see industry privilege at play. “I can understand when people come from outside to Mumbai and have anger towards nepo babies,” she said. “I can understand where that anger comes from because they’re struggling to pay their rent every month. For them, their (star kids’) struggles seem very frivolous.” Her remarks shed light on the widening gap between privileged insiders and newcomers trying to find a footing in one of the world’s most competitive film industries.
The Om Shanti Om director also opened up about her complicated relationship with money and how her early financial struggles continue to influence her today. “Till now, I’m insecure about money. For me, I need to be financially secure to relax—that’s the only insecurity I have,” she admitted. Farah revealed that her family once faced extreme financial hardship. “We saw our dad go from being very rich to very poor, and for several years, we lived hand to mouth.” This instability, she explained, has instilled in her a relentless drive to keep working and remain self-reliant.
Commenting on the culture of “struggle stories” in Bollywood, Farah observed that today, everyone seems to want to craft one—even when it doesn’t exist. She expressed relief that her own children won’t feel pressured to pretend they’ve faced such hardships. Farah and her husband, filmmaker Shirish Kunder, whom she married in 2004, are parents to triplets—son Czar and daughters Diva and Anya—born via IVF on February 11, 2008.
In recent years, Farah has diversified her creative pursuits beyond cinema. She has embraced YouTube as a new platform, where she hosts entertaining cooking vlogs with her cook, Dilip. The channel showcases her humor, warmth, and love for food as she visits celebrity friends’ homes to cook special dishes together. Through this new chapter, Farah Khan continues to reinvent herself—remaining as relatable, hardworking, and outspoken as ever.