Showing posts with label Fardeen Khan daughter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fardeen Khan daughter. Show all posts
I was fortunate that I could take that time off and witness the growing up years of my children-Fardeen Khan
8:11 AM
Returning to movies with Visfot after 12 years and two children, Fardeen reflects on how he took a hiatus to build his family
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; June 15, 2022)
“How can I forget my first day of Visfot shoot,” exclaims Fardeen Khan. It was momentous for him — the actor, last seen in Dulha Mil Gaya (2010), was facing the camera after a 12-year hiatus. In these years, Khan had moved to London, become father to two children and piled on excess kilos that made him almost unrecognizable. Amid all these sweeping changes, what remained constant was his love for acting. In 2021, he decided that it was time to be Bollywood-bound again. Those extra kilos were quickly shed, and the actor — once again looking as dashing as he did in the aughts — returned to Mumbai.
“When I returned, I reached out to industry people to let them know that I am keen to work again. I met Sanjay [Gupta, Visfot producer] too. He liked the way I look; he said there is maturity and manliness in my demeanour now. He asked me to read the script of Visfot. I was a bit taken aback as it seemed a godsend,” he says, with his impish smile.
Visfot, also starring Riteish Deshmukh, is the remake of the Venezuelan movie, Rock, Paper, Scissors (2012). As the Kookie Gulati-helmed crime drama rolled late last year, Khan admits it took a while to get back on the saddle. “Initially, I was nervous, but it wasn’t a disabling nervousness. I spent three weeks doing script-reading sessions, perfecting the lingo and had many discussions with Kookie. I play a Dongri boy who emigrates overseas, but has to return to the country. His life then turns topsy-turvy overnight.”
Does he think filmmaking has changed in the past 12 years? “Things have changed a lot in terms of technology. The most profound change is that the audience’s standard of quality has risen with the [advent of] streaming platforms.”
A chat would be incomplete without understanding what made him take the long hiatus. “Natasha and I were trying to have a family. Since we had a bad experience with doctors here, we decided to consult doctors in London in 2011. That’s when we moved. IVF has its own demands, and I wanted to be there for my wife. I admire Natasha for everything that she has gone through. In 2013, we had our first child [Diani]. When I saw my daughter for the first time, my heart melted. We had our son [Azarius] in 2018. I was caught up in parenthood, and time just flew. I was fortunate that I could take that time off and witness their [growing-up] years.”
It’s daunting to make a fresh start, I feel like an intern again-Fardeen Khan
8:17 AM
Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; February 24, 2022)
After an 11-year-long hiatus, Fardeen Khan is all set to step on the big screen once again. In fact, the actor recently wrapped up work on his comeback venture, Visfot, co-starring Riteish Deshmukh. In an exclusive chat with BT, the actor spoke about facing the camera after a long break and the journey ahead. Excerpts:
Now that you are back in the spotlight officially, what changes do you see in the way things work today?
It’s a whole new landscape in terms of the content and the way the system works now. There’s a much higher standard of creativity. Streaming has brought in a different kind of audience, and that has changed the way content is being created, and protagonists are being designed. The lines between OTT and theatrical content are blurred. Of course, the budgets, timelines and challenges differ, but unlike TV, streaming content has the same standard as a slick movie. I have consumed a lot of content over the years on streaming platforms, but to now see it functioning from the inside is great. What hasn’t changed is the human dynamism and the foundation of how we tell stories, how it continues to play on emotions and create an experience. The pandemic just turbocharged the change in the movie business that was waiting to happen.
How have people within the industry reacted to your re-entry into the fold?
Even though I was meeting fewer people due to the pandemic, I met Sanjay Gupta, Mudassar Aziz, Sajid Nadiadwala and many of my colleagues and friends with whom I had worked previously. I let them know that I am back, transformed, eager and committed to getting back to cinema. A lot of people thought I was not living here at all. Everyone I met was warm and welcoming, no upfront promises to work together, but a reassurance that we would team up for sure soon. This industry is where I belong, and I was always going to come back to work in some form. You need the courage to make a fresh start. It’s daunting and I feel like an intern again.
You have completed the shoot of Visfot. How was the experience of facing the camera again after more than a decade?
I was extremely nervous! (laughs!) I hadn’t slept a few nights before the first day of the shoot. We had workshops and readings. I was nervous about facing the camera again from the day I signed up for it. The film had its own kind of journey before going on floors. We changed locations from London to Goa and eventually to Mumbai, looking at the pandemic situation. I’m playing a character from a certain kind of background that I have never done before.
I wasn’t sure I would fit into that. I had apprehensions, but we got the look right, and that was the beginning. There were jitters; I wondered if I still knew how to act after 11 years of not doing it. The workshops helped me a lot to get a grip on the character, and it all started coming back. Knowing Kookie Gulati (director), Riteish (Deshmukh) and Sanjay went a long way in settling back in. They are my friends who had my back and they made me feel very welcome. I was fortunate to have the luxury of being treated rather gently for the first couple of days. A fortnight or so in, and the kid gloves were off! (laughs!) Then all of them were like, ‘He’s okay! Let’s get on with it!’ No more gentle treatment from there! I had a great time shooting at an outdoor place like Dongri. I have driven through it but never shot there. Shooting at one of their shopping streets was quite an experience. That day, I also realised that common people have not forgotten me, although it has been long since they saw me in a movie.
Earlier you spoke about how the way Bollywood functions has changed, what are the changes that strike you the most?
As an industry, we are now subscribing to a new standard of professionalism and creativity. Bollywood, in general, was operating with a lot of mediocrity. A percentage of the crowd did some amazing work, comparable to international cinema, but largely, we were still trapped in mediocrity, and that includes me, too. There is no room for that anymore. Everyone has upped their game today. You have to be on-point. Time is the most precious entity now and no one’s forgiven for wasting it. In this case, as Sanjay was involved with Visfot, I felt a sense of comfort as both of us are from the old school of Bollywood and we are together grappling with the new stuff. So much has changed; there are so many new faces and talent. The learning curve is huge, but I am enjoying the process. It felt like I was back in school.
Now that you’re back to the grind, have you introduced your kids to the work you have done so far?
Not yet. My daughter and I have not even seen a movie together. We have watched cartoons and other stuff. I think we will watch Heyy Babyy first. I have shown my children some of my film songs. My daughter (Diani) is older, and she is trying to wrap her head around the idea that there is something called acting for a livelihood. They have lived for the most of their life in the UK and one year in Dubai now. They have not been exposed to this side of what I do. Had the scenes allowed me, I would have loved to show her around one of my sets of Visfot. Even one of the last schedules had a lot of cussing and some extreme stuff, which is not meant for kids. But I hope to take her on a set soon. My son (Azarius) is amused to see the songs featuring me. The mere concept of seeing daddy act is new for him. Since they live in a different country and are not in the cinema ecosystem, it takes them time to understand all of this.
Fardeen Khan loses 12 kg in three months; feels like a changed man
7:58 AM
Upala KBR (DNA; February 25, 2014)
Fardeen says, “I have been training at UP (Ultimate Performance) Fitness training gym for the last three months. Nick Mitchell (the founder of the gym) put me on to my personal trainer Shawn Murphy. Now I am down to a weight I haven’t been in years and it feels fantastic. Nick’s programme though extremely rigorous and strict, is great for weight loss. The results are impressive.”
Fardeen adds that the intense workouts, combined with a balanced diet, made the difference. “Apart from six-day-a-week training regime, I follow a balanced diet of 40 per cent protein, 40 per cent carbs and the rest fats. It was a one-hour killing workout with a combination of weight-training and cardio. The training programme helps to lose around one per cent of body fat every week. The exercises revolve around resistance training and includes squats, deadlifts and bench press,” he says.
Apart from feeling lighter and fitter, Fardeen is thrilled with the compliments from wife Natasha. “Now that I am back in Mumbai I work out at a gym in a seven-star hotel in Juhu. I am really enjoying the regime.
Natasha and my baby are still in London but she is extremely happy to see me looking so slim. She says that it’s nice to see the old, hot FK without a T-shirt working around the house. So keeping fit and healthy is my new mantra. I have been in Mumbai finishing my work but am missing my daughter a lot. She is just over two months old and they will be in the UK till May. I am shuttling between London and Mumbai till then.”
On the work front, he reveals, “I am also starting shooting for a couple of films, start commissioning scripts and plan to revive dad’s (Feroz Khan) production house.”
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