Fardeen Khan opened up about the reception of his debut film Prem Aggan and said that he doesn’t believe he deserved the Filmfare Award for Best Debut for the film. The film, directed by Feroz Khan also starred Meghna Kothari and released in 1998.
Fardeen said that he got several negative reviews for his performance in the film and he sat at home for a whole year. The people he had signed films with took their money back and he repaid the money he had already spent. He added that he started working on his Hindi after Prem Aggan.
Fardeen Khan told Bollywood Hungama, "I don't think I deserve that award. It was a culture and stuff back then, that people got awards like that. I look at my work, I definitely didn't deserve that."
"The film didn't work, I didn't work, I looked back and I thought I was horrible. I sat at home for a whole year. I had no work, the films I had signed before that, people took their money back. I had spent some of the money that I had been given, so I had to return that money."Fardeen Khan to Bollywood Hungama
Talking about his father Feroz Khan, Fardeen revealed that he would give Fardeen Rs 50,000 a month and had said that he would provide a roof over his head and food for a year. Fardeen, at the time, had purchased a car with an EMI of Rs 22,000 per month.
“He was very very strict, my dad. Because he was a completely self-made man and he just didn't believe in protecting you, especially in terms of economic reality. That whole year went by, I went into a bit of a shell for some time. The reviews were awful, nobody wanted to work with me. Then I kind of picked myself up, started working out, coming out with a plan to meet people and go out there,” Fardeen said.
Fardeen Khan’s next movie was Ram Gopal Varma’s Jungle and the actor said that he owes his career to Varma. Additionally, the actor thanked his Jungle co-star Urmila Matondkar who worked with him when nobody wanted to.
Fardeen also opened up about the challenges he and his wife Natasha faced while they were trying to have children. He said, “We had challenges in having children, so we had to go the IVF route. We had a bad experience with doctors here in Mumbai. Natasha really suffered because IVF is not easy. It's very hard on your body and on your health."
Fardeen revealed, "With Natasha, in one of her initial pregnancies, we had twins. She lost them at six months. That was very hard for us. It was a tough time. When you go through an experience like that, when you see your child, you cherish life a lot more and you see it very deeply. You appreciate it so much more. When my daughter was born, she melted me.”
Fardeen and Natasha tied the knot in December 2005 and welcomed their first child in 2013 and their second child in 2017.
Fardeen is set to make his Bollywood comeback with the film Visfot directed by Kookie Gulati. The actor will be seen alongside Riteish Deshmukh and Priya Bapat. The film, which is the remake of the Venezuelan film Rock Paper Scissors, is being produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Anuradha Gupta, and Sanjay Gupta.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)