Farah Khan is a well-known Bollywood movie director, choreographer, dancer, a filmmaker and female actor. She is primarily known for choreographing dance steps in several Bollywood songs. Till date, she has choreographed more than a hundred pieces in more than 80 Bollywood movies. She has won 6 Filmfare Awards for Best choreography and has also received Filmfare Award for Best Director for her debut as a director in movie ‘Mai Hun Na’ starring Shahrukh Khan. Farah also received National Film Award for Best choreography. Besides, Bollywood Farah Khan has worked on Tamil movies and has handled International projects.
| Name | Farah Khan | ||||||
| Real name | Farahdeepa Khan | ||||||
| Profession | Choreographer, Actor, Producer, Director | ||||||
| Date of Birth | 09-Jan-65 | ||||||
| Birth place | Mumbai, Maharashtra | ||||||
| Zodiac sign | Capricon | ||||||
| Nationality | Indian | ||||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||||
| School | St. Teresa convent school, Mumbai | ||||||
| College | St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai | ||||||
| Educational qualification | Graduate | ||||||
| Father | Kamran Khan | ||||||
| Mother | Menaka Irani | ||||||
| Brother | Sajid Khan | ||||||
| Husband | Shirish Kunder | ||||||
| Children | Anya, Diva, Czan | ||||||
| Salary | Rs. 50 lakh Per song | ||||||
| Net worth | $10 million | ||||||
| Height | 160 cm | ||||||
| Eye colour | Black | ||||||
| Hair Colour | Brown |
Early life and Family
Farah Khan was born on 9th January 1965 in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Her father Kamran Khan was a stunt man who later turned to a filmmaker. Her mother is Menaka Irani. Her brother Sajid Khan is a film director and actor as well as a comedian.
Farah Khan father’s religion is Muslim, whereas her mother is Zoroastrian and belongs to the Parsi community. Her father, who once had a prosperous and successful career, lost all his money as his movie ventures flopped. Her parents then separated and the family was left with no money. Her mother had to sell her jewellery to make a living, and they lived a low middle-class life. Farah and her brother had to go through a tough childhood. They were ferried between one houses to another. She was only 11 years old when her parents separated and saw significantly less of her father after the separation. Failure made Farah father alcoholic, and when Farah was 19 years old, father her died due to liver damage.
Education:
Farah Khan did her schooling from Saint Teresa Convent School, Mumbai. After that, she attended Saint Xavier’s College, Mumbai. However, because of low attendance, she was sacked and had to complete her graduation in a correspondence course. Farah was a student of sociology but was amazed by Michael Jackson’s dance performances. This led her to choose choreography as her career.
Love and marriage: Farah Khan married Shirish Kunder in December 2004. Both met while working on the film ‘Main Hoon Na’. The couple has an age gap of eight years. Farah is eight year elder to Shirish. Despite the shocking age difference, the couple is living a successful married life and has been helping each other with their movies such as Om Shanti Om, Tees Maar Khan, Jaan-E-Mann etc. The couple was blessed with triplets; two daughters Deepa and Ananya and a son Czar born on 11 February 2008 through in vitro fertilization. They have named their production house in the name of the kids ‘Three’s company’.
Career:
Farah never took any official training for dancing and learned to dance by seeing several videos. She learnt to dance on her own and set up a dance group. She made her debut as choreographer in1981 from the song ‘Kahan Kahan Se Guzar gaye’. She got her big break as a choreographer in the song ‘Pehla Nasha’ from the movie ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar’ after Saroj Khan walked out of the film. The song was a super hit. After that, Farah Khan choreographed many other pieces. At the set of ‘Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa’, she met actor Shahrukh Khan. Both became good friends and started working together. Till date, she has won 6 Filmfare award for Best choreography. Songs for which she won Filmfare Award for Best choreography include; ‘Dhol Baje Ne laga’ from the movie ‘Virasat’, 1996, song ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ from the movie ‘Dil Se’ 1998, song ‘Ek Pal Ka Jeena’ from ‘Kaho Na Pyar Hai hai’, 2000, ‘Woh Ladki Hai Kahan’ song from movie ‘Dil Chahta Hai hai’, and ‘Idhar Chala Main Udhar Chala’ from ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ 2003. For the song ‘Idhar Chala Main Udhar Chala’ she also won National Film Award for the Best Choreography. She directed her first film ‘Main Hoon Na’ starring Shahrukh Khan produced by ‘Red Chillies Entertainment’. The movie was a great hit. Her second movie as a director ‘Om Shanti Om’ starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone became the highest-grossing Bollywood movie at its time of release. In the year 2012 she made her acting debut from the movie ‘Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi’ in which she played the lead role opposite Boman Irani. Farah owns a production company with her husband ‘Three’s Company’.
Farah Khan has worked on global projects like Marigold: An Adventure in India, Monsoon Wedding, Bombay Dreams and Vanity Fair and earned a nomination in Tony Award nomination 2004 as Best Choreographer.
She has judged a number of Indian Reality Television Shows such as ‘Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar’, ‘Indian Idol’ Season 1 and 2, ‘Dance India Dance Li’l Masters’, ‘Entertainment Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega’ and ‘Just dance’ alongside Hrithik Roshan and Vaibhavi Merchant.
Less Known Facts About Farah Khan
- She also worked for Chinese movies Imaginable Love and Kung Fu Yoga.
- She is the niece of Honey Irani, Daisy Irani and Javed Akhtar. Zoya Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar are first cousins of Farah Khan.
- Farah Khan was the first woman to be nominated for Film fare awards under the category of Best Director.
- The best part of Farah Khan’s movies is that the whole crew and cast appears on the screen during the closing credits.
- In one of her interviews for a Farah Khan said that she always wanted to be a director, but became a choreographer. With the help of Shahrukh Khan, she got her debut under Red Chillies production.
- In season 2 of the American reality show ‘America’s Got Talent’ the contestant Kashif Memon copied moves of Farah Khan from ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’ and ‘Kaho Na Pyar Hai’.
- Farah Khan trained Colombian pop star, Shakira, for the Bollywood version of ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ for the MTV Video Music Awards.
- She started a celebrity chat show ‘Tere Mere Beech Mein’.
- Farah Khan won the competition for Indian entry to ‘World Dance Championship’ in the year 1986. She with her partner Hemu Sinha went to UK for the competition and won ‘Friendship Duo’ award.
- Farah and Sajid have performed as a backup dancer in the song ‘Bacha Le Sambha Le Koi To Yahan Se Nikale’ in the movie ‘3D Saamri’ in 1985. As they hid their face with mud, they were not recognisable.
- Does Farah Khan drink alcohol – Not known
- Does Farah Khan smoke – No
- After the split, Farah’s father married actress ‘Ameetha’. Farah has a step-sister Sabeeha Khan who debuted in Anokha Rishta.
- Farah Khan was in cold war with Saroj khan For 2 decades.
- Before dating and marrying Sirish Kunder she dated Akashdeep Saigal for two years.
Farah Khan is one of the most successful female commercial directors in the Bollywood industry. She designs the steps of Bollywood dance to bring freshness and choreographs only high profile Bollywood celebrities.
