“Farah is a born actress” – Bela Bhansali Sehgal

By Screen Weekly -

June 12, 2012 - 11:14 AM IST

Farah Khan and Boman Irani recount embarrassingly funny incidents while shooting for Bela Bhansali Sehgal's Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi

“Farah is a born actress” – Bela Bhansali Sehgal

On location

Filmmaker Bela Bhansali Sehgal fulfilled her long cherished dream of working with Boman Irani and Farah Khan when she cast this unusual pair in her directorial debut, Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi.

Though this comedy is Farah's first film as an actress, the director Bela claims, "Farah is a born actress. She really respected me as a director but she would always fight for the light and the Director Of Photography (DOP) would be exasperated." Farah laughs, "I was overcritical of myself. I would look at the monitor and ask the DOP to light me more from one particular side."

Meanwhile, her co-star Boman Irani, had his embarrassing moments on the sets of this film. In one scene, Boman is shown scantily clad wrapped only in a towel. Coincidentally, on the day of that scene's shoot, Farah's mother-in-law and her triplets decided to visit the sets. An embarrassed Boman recalls, "With Farah's three children and their three maids sitting right in front of me in best seats in the house, it was very difficult to do that scene."

While actresses are infamous for throwing tantrums on the sets, Bela claims that Farah was very cooperative except for working in night shifts. Boman vouches, "There is one scene where we are sitting face to face dining at a restaurant. The camera focuses on me and it's over Farah's shoulder. She actually slept during the shot."

Farah makes her point, "If you take that shot at five in the morning, I will obviously. Bela made me work for 40 nights and I wonder why because when I read the script, all the shots were supposed to be shot in the day. I would get a call to reach the sets at two in the night, do my hair and makeup, and the shot would be taken at six in the morning." With her humour intact, Farah jokes, "I would ask them if we were making a Ramsay horror film since they were taking my close-ups at five in the morning."

My character dresses in a tip-top fashion from top to bottom, from shoes to the watch to the cardigan and the skirt. We have also used a lot of Parsi gara sarees with a lot of embroidery work - Farah Khan

But Farah does not take her acting debut lightly. The filmmaker-turned-actress did a lot of groundwork to perfect her Parsi character of a 40-year-old single lady. She reveals, "Since I am half-Parsi and Boman (Irani), my co-star is a 'full' Parsi, I spent a lot of time with him. I also met a lot of Parsi women to see how they dress and how they walk. But I didn't want to play a caricature Parsi because my mother, who is a Parsi, would have been very upset." So, Farah decided to play her character naturally and behave like she would if the camera was not switched on.

In order to take care of the details of Farah's look, a Parsi designer, Dilnaz Kharbari was brought onboard. Farah divulges, "My character dresses in a tip-top fashion from top to bottom, from shoes to the watch to the cardigan and the skirt. We have also used a lot of Parsi gara sarees with a lot of embroidery work. Wearing that was very unlike the jhalla clothes that I wear in real life."

Screen India

Watch Promo: Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi