Even though actress Gauahar Khan has denied wedding rumours, sources say that she will be tying the knot with composer Ismail Darbar’s son, Zaid Darbar, on November 22 in Mumbai. Recently, Ismail Darbar hinted that a wedding is on the cards. While talking to ETimes TV, the Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam composer had said, “If Zaid wants to marry her, why would I object? He is nearly 29, and knows what he’s doing.”

Sources close to the couple also informed us that Gauahar’s sister Nigaar Z Khan and other siblings will be flying down to India next month for the wedding, which will be a two-day affair with close friends and family members in attendance.

Earlier, there were rumours that the couple would be getting married next year. However, Zaid laughingly told us, “Yes, but I’ve heard most probably she is getting married this year.” He had also added that his family adores Gauahar, who shares a great equation with his sister. “Gauahar has a very strong bond with my family. My younger sister adores her and always says she wants to be like her,” he said. 

Shreya Mukherjee (HINDUSTAN TIMES; May 5, 2020)

For Gauahar Khan, this Ramzan is different. She had to give shopping and mouth-watering street food a miss due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Friends and relatives are also not visiting for iftar. But she believes in taking things in her stride.

In her words, “Ramzan essentially is supposed to be about ibadat and goodwill… In fact this time it’s better because there’s no distraction. So I’m getting more time to pray, finish my Quran.” Khan, however, is missing elder sister Nigaar Khan. “Nigaar is in America. The last two Ramzans she was with me. She’d take over the kitchen, make 10 different kebabs and desserts,” says the 36-year-old.

Spending time alone on such occasions is difficult and Khan’s grateful to have her mother, Razia Khan and cat, Snow, for company. “My mother is happy to see me around. We talk, play cards, break our fast together,” the actor says, adding she’s praying for the world. “The other day I was standing near the window while reading my Quran so that my prayer reaches all,” says Khan, who’s helping those in need, but isn’t talking about it.

“Everyone, including the media, should...help bring people together. This isn’t the time to create confusion, add to stigmas,” she says.

And there’s concern. “Our industry is uncertain. We need to keep working to generate more work. I finished two web shows, hope they’ll be out soon,” she says.

As she launches her own fashion line, Gauhar Khan talks to us about the art of reinventing herself
Aastha Atray Banan (MID-DAY; March 25, 2018)

It's 2.30 pm in the afternoon and though actress Gauhar Khan says she is feeling under the weather, she looks fresh and excited. We are sitting at her office in Lokhandwala, where sister Nigaar, sitting nearby on a computer, is busy sending emails out. It’s been a busy six months for Khan who just came out with a fashion line of her own. On the wall behind the sofa, hangs a sign that screams, Gauhargeous, which is the name of the collection as well. “It’s been a mad six months, so I guess the excitement has got to me. But I clearly remember that in November 2016, I was sitting at a coffee shop alone and I wrote a note to myself and in that I said, I will start a fashion line, and well, here I am.”

We all know Khan through various avenues. She showed us she could dance in Jhalak Dikhla Jaa; she wowed us with nuanced performances in movies like Rocket Singh and Begum Jaan; she showed us she could be calm and graceful under pressure in Bigg Boss 7, could do musicals with her stint on Zangoora — the Gypsy Prince; and could also be glamorous and Kardashianlike in her reality TV show, The Khan Sisters. In an industry that could chew you up and spit you out, she has managed to cut clutter. “It’s a hard place to be. People said don’t do Bigg Boss, that’s what happens when people have nothing else to do; people said don’t do Rocket Singh, if you are not playing Ranbir Kapoor’s love interest; or, don’t shift to Gurgaon for Zangoora... I have realised you can only do what you can do. You can’t take anyone else’s path, you can’t do what other people think is right. So I decided, I am going to create my own path because that’s the only way I can be happy.”

Ask her the often-asked question, if she feels that she hasn’t got her due as an actress, and she is sorted in her reply. “People call and say ‘Gauhar, here is a role, and we want someone like you for it’. I am okay with not dancing around trees, because people like Vidya Balan and director Srijit Mukherji want me for specific roles, like the one in Begum Jaan. It’s a space I have made for myself.”

As we come back to the fashion line at hand, and talk fashion influences, Khan says that she owes her “style” to her mother. “We were always dressed by her, and dare we wear just anything. There were bows, buttons and clips to match every outfit.” Later, it was Rekha who shaped her aesthetic. “I love movies like Khoobsurat and Jhoothi and was taken in by her style — those plaits and polka-dot dresses. I gave her an award last year, and she actually knew who I was, and called me a diva. I cried on stage.”

In a market that is now flooded with celeb clothing lines, what Khan doesn’t want is a tie up with a retail outlet. Instead, she wants to eventually focus on having a store of her own. The designs, which follow her own clean, classy aesthetic, are a mix of basics and separates; only 23 pieces for now. “We may have limited pieces but we have thought of dressing curvy girls, as well as slender ones. For example, we were just talking about having a jersey dress, and we realised it won’t look good on every shape, so we said we will make it a loose-fitting one instead of a tight one.”

To end, we ask her who would she say is the Gauhargeous girl, and she laughs, “Good question! It’s someone who knows that she can express her mind through her clothes. She knows exactly who she is, and wants to show that off.”

Neha Maheshwri Bhagat (BOMBAY TIMES; March 20, 2015)

Tell her it’s not easy going into the house mid-way through the show as the other inmates who have already spent over a month will not be so receptive, and she agrees, “I know that and being the sister of last year’s winner it will be even more so. That’s the tricky part. But I am going with a clean state and sans any strategies.” Nigaar adds that she doesn’t know anybody inside the house except Diandra Soares. Ask her what is missing in the show as compared to the last year’s one and she says, “It’s the fun element, which I am planning to bring to the show.”

Gauahar also hopes that her elder sister will have a good ride inside. “I want her to enjoy the process,” she say.