The buzz is that Farah Khan will be making her debut as leading lady in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Shirin Farhad. Apart from reasons of cold feet about the new creative mission, the talented choreographer-director-producer kept Bhansali waiting as she herself awaited the go-ahead from hubby Shirish. “If he hadn’t agreed, I would have had second thoughts about going ahead with the film,” says Farah matter-of-factly. “I knew he would be supportive, but I still wanted to hear a firm ‘yes’ from him.”

Was Farah transferring her own apprehensions onto hubby darling? Even a ‘yes’ wasn’t strong enough approval! “I wanted to closely study his body language and tone to see whether he was indeed supportive or just saying ‘yes’ to make me happy. As any wife, I too can make out when he is faking it,” she winks. According to Farah, Shirish was pleasantly shocked but immediately encouraged her to go for it.
“I was wondering whether he would be embarrassed to see his wife on screen at this age but he was more than supportive,” she says. “In fact, Shirish thodi philosophy bhi karne laga. You know… saying things like yeh tumhaari ek life hai, ise poori tarah se jiyo, jo mann mein aaye woh karo etc., etc. I just said ‘achcha, achcha, bahut ho gaya, don’t try to sound like Shah Rukh’s Raj/Rahul character now.”
And what about the kids? Czar, Diva and Anya, barely three years old, obviously cannot be left on their own. A two-month shooting schedule in October/November would mean taking bachchas along. “Thankfully, Sanjay had planned it all,” says Farah. “He has set the film in Mumbai and we won’t be travelling outside the city at all. Also, he’s made arrangements for Czar, Diva and Anya to stay close to me on the sets. In any case, when I direct a film, they stay on the sets close to me. It won’t be any different this time around too. In fact, a director’s job is a hundred per cent on the sets. A heroine actually gets some time off.”
As she gets ready to prepare for the role of a middle-aged spinster opposite Boman Irani’s Farhad, Farah remembers, “When Shirish and I got married, our friends and family members said that as Shirish-Farah, we were pretty much like Shirin-Farhad. Who knew this would indeed happen for me in reel life one day? Really, none of us ever imagined that I would be acting one day,” she laughs.
Tell Farah that at age 46 she could pretty much be the oldest debutante heroine in Bollywood, and she says in mock anger, “Tumhein meri age kisne bataayi? Abhi toh I am in my late 30s! Now how is that for a star-start? Isn’t this what heroines do all the time?”
With Shirin Farhad, a film that is being directed by Sanjay Bhansali’s sister Bela, Farah will have experienced more of the gamut of filmmaking than most women in the industry. But she waves away the compliments about her talent progression laughingly. “Let’s see what happens from this point on!” she says, going on to joke self-effacingly, “Guess I will also have my own entourage now as is the trend with heroines in Bollywood. I will have people around me calling ‘Madamji’ all the time. You know what! I am already loving it! It’s fun to be a heroine!” She ends with her characteristic booming laugh.