My father Kamran Khan was a successful producer, director and actor in B-grade films.
Farah Khan
A part of 'Happy New Year' is inspired by western pop culture, the pop music videos of Michael Jackson, Madonna and Duran Duran in the '80s.
When I see a lot of the big Hollywood movies, I see they are all financed by Indian studios.
Adopting a pet is like taking the responsibility of a baby.
It is really a sad state of affairs if I am still the only commercially successful woman director. We need a lot more commercially viable women, not only in direction.
I always feel your movie will be as strong as your weakest link.
In 'Shirin Farhad' I play the character of a Parsi woman. Though I was born a Parsi, in a Parsi family, I don't have the right accent.
Everyone has flaws. We are only human after all. But what's important is, we don't let our flaws stand in the way of what we can achieve.
I always say that I'm a filmmaker, not a factory. I don't have to churn out films every six months.
It takes two years to make a good film.
I am not anti-men, I believe truly that we are meant to be equal. We should be judged equally and I think I am a living example of feminism.
We have music playing at home, day and night.
Every person on Twitter is a critic. Every person who watches a movie will write a blog or a review. You can't go out trying to impress these people.
'Main Hoon Na' will always be special since it was my first film but in my subsequent films, I was trying to show off with gimmicks that didn't aid the narrative in any way.
At least in films you will go, you shoot for four to five months and then you can take a break. But I know how TV works… the directors are mindblowing, they work non-stop.
It is more difficult to make film which does not have a big name. People start questioning the cast and the budget.
Before I had my babies, I would tend to be self-absorbed, and worry about little things, but now I am a changed person.
For me feminism is equality.
I don't smoke, drink, do drugs or even have affairs. If I don't even swear, I should be put in a shrine and sanctified.
Shirin Farhad' is a romantic tale of an unmarried couple who feel they can live together forever. Having crossed the marriageable age, what happens to them forms the crux of the story. The movie has several comic sequences with an emotional touch to it.
You are punished only when you are not performing as per expectation, and not because you belong to a particular religion, caste, or creed. Here, you fail because your vision is not right or you have not worked hard. That's why I believe we have true democracy in the film industry. How I wish the rest of the country was like the industry!
When TV came, people said who will go to theatres to watch movies? When the Internet came, they said the same. And now it's the digital media... The doomsday predictions are always there but I don't think people will stop going to cinema halls because that is one experience you can't get at home.
People don't wish to watch masala films of the '50s any more. Audiences do not want loud films at all. They are watching Netflix and Amazon that have fresh ideas.
The best moment in 'Masoom' comes when the boy tells him that he knows he's his father.
I will only do something if it has credibility for me, and that includes the films I make, the TV shows I judge and ad-campaigns I sign up for.
God bless IVF because it's never too late to conceive any more. However, having said that, I have to point out that going through IVF is a gruelling procedure; maybe that's why only a woman can go through it!
I am happy judging shows and making films. It is a good thing to do a film and then take up a show, considering it also keeps your popularity alive.
Even with a big budget, you can make a niche film.
I have fully retired as a choreographer. I do not have the patience now to make actors learn their steps. For me, that ship has sailed. I have enjoyed 22 years of it.
In 'Purab Aur Paschim,' there's one of the nicer patriotic scenes which is patriotic without going jingoistic. There's a scene set in a rotating restaurant, where Pran, who has left India, is completely running India down and Manoj Kumar is taking up for India. And there's that song 'Jab Zero Diya.'
One of my favourite scenes ever is in Mr India - when the kids are hungry and Sridevi comes with the pastries etc, and they become friends. It's impossible not to get teary-eyed.
Women directors in India have mostly made niche films. Naturally, those films have a limited market.
I have to be someone; maybe I'm just doing it for my father. When I made a movie, it had to be a hit because when he died, he was a flop director.
The stars that I've worked with started their careers almost at the same time as me. Whether it is Shah Rukh Khan or Aamir Khan or Salman Khan.
The climax of 'Johny Mera Naa,' it's one of the best climaxes ever written, ever directed. If I ever wanted to remake a movie, I'd try to do this one, just for the climax.
I had babies at the age of 43 because sometimes you get so caught up, you are making your life, building your career and may be you don't want to get married.
Cinema, art and culture should definitely be shared. These things transcend borders.
I make aesthetic movies which are grand and with some of the biggest stars. It's not fair to run them down. I don't make tacky films.
When I am making a movie, I am very casual; wearing chappals, and have my hair tied. However, when I am judging a show, I take care of myself and get the makeup and hair done.
I always say a film should be given breathing space.
I see people every day who think they're the be all and end all of the industry. I've seen so many people come and go, but the industry doesn't revolve around one person.
My experience in Bollywood has been this: You work hard, you deliver, and nobody finds fault with you.
IVF is a wonderful thing. One has to ignore the injections as the reality is that nobody is going to invent a pill that you can take to get a baby.
I am a hands-on mother, so I take long gaps between films.
I don't socialise. My social life is minus zero.
Shah Rukh is always experimental with his role as an actor. He is the same actor who did a film like 'Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa,' 'Asoka,' 'Chak De! India' and 'Swades' and other so-called commercially successful films.
The problem with people is that no matter how good you are at what you do, it's never enough for them. There will always be someone to point out some flaw. Someone will always find something lacking in you.
I was chosen over British and French choreographers to work on 'Bombay Dreams.'
I had to let go of many things because we did not have much money growing up. Like joining the Film Institute in Pune or learning the piano.
Giving birth to triplets at the age of forty-three is no walk in the park, but I had little choice. I got married at the young age of forty, and both my husband, Shirish, and I were keen to start a family soon.
