Farah Khan Indian Director Known for Om Shanti Om

Early life

Farah Khan was born on 9 January 1965 in Mumbai. She studied sociology at St. Xavier's College in the city. By her own account, she had never danced until the music video for Michael Jackson's "Thriller" appeared during her student years, and its effect on her was strong enough that dance became her calling. She taught herself, formed a dance group, and moved toward a career in choreography.

Career

Her break as a choreographer came when she took over the dance work on the film Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992), after another choreographer left the project. On the set of Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1994) she met the actor Shah Rukh Khan, and the two have worked together many times since. Over the years she choreographed songs in more than eighty films, and she also took on international projects, among them Monsoon Wedding (2001), the stage musical Bombay Dreams (2002) and Vanity Fair (2004). She trained the singer Shakira for a Bollywood-style version of "Hips Don't Lie" for the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, and she choreographed Kylie Minogue for "Chiggy Wiggy" in the film Blue (2009).

In 2004 she moved into directing with Main Hoon Na, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Sushmita Sen. She also shared the writing credit on the film. It was the second highest-grossing Indian film of its year and brought her a first Filmfare nomination for Best Director. Her second feature as director, Om Shanti Om (2007), again starred Shah Rukh Khan, this time with Deepika Padukone in her first film. She wrote and directed it, and it became the highest-grossing Hindi film of its year, earning her a second Filmfare Best Director nomination.

She directed Tees Maar Khan (2010), a comedy with Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif, whose song "Sheila Ki Jawani" she also choreographed. In 2012 she made her acting debut in the romantic comedy Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi. Her next film as director was Happy New Year (2014), a heist musical built around dance, which reunited her with Shah Rukh Khan and Padukone. It was the second highest-grossing Indian film of 2014. Records list five film credits for her between 2004 and 2014.

Alongside film, she has been active on television. She hosted the celebrity chat show Tere Mere Beach Mein and judged the first and second seasons of Indian Idol, as well as other dance and talent competitions, including Dance India Dance Li'l Masters and Just Dance. In 2015 she hosted Bigg Boss Halla Bol, a spin-off of the reality series Bigg Boss. She and her husband founded a production company, Three's Company. In April 2024 she began posting cooking videos on YouTube featuring her cook, Dilip, and had about three million subscribers on her channel.

Recognition

Khan has won the National Film Award for Best Choreography and seven Filmfare Awards for choreography. She was the second woman to be nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Director, for Main Hoon Na, and the first to be nominated twice, for Om Shanti Om. Her work on Bombay Dreams brought a Tony Award nomination for Best Choreography, shared with Anthony Van Laast.

Personal life

Khan married the film editor Shirish Kunder on 9 December 2004. Kunder edited her directing debut, Main Hoon Na, and the couple have since worked together on several films, including Jaan-E-Mann, Om Shanti Om and Tees Maar Khan. They have three children, born in 2008. Their production company takes its name from the three of them.