Menaka Irani, mother of filmmakers Farah Khan and Sajid Khan, has died.
She was 79. The heartbreaking news comes days after Farah had revealed in an Instagram post that her mother had undergone ‘multiple surgeries’. More details are awaited.
Farah’s post about mom
On her birthday on July 12, Farah shared two photos with her mother along with a long note lauding her strength. She admitted she took her mother ‘for granted’ and wanted to see her strong again so that they could ‘start fighting’. She wrote in her caption, “We all take our mothers for granted… especially me!”
Sharing how the family had a tough few weeks, Farah further wrote, “This last month has been a revelation on how much i lov my mom Menka.. she s been the strongest, bravest person iv ever seen.. sense of humour intact even after multiple surgeries. Happy birthday mom! Today’s a good day to come back home ♥️ can’t wait for you to get strong enough to start fighting with me again.. I love you.”
Farah’s brother, Sajid Khan too had shared a photo of himself with Menaka and Farah on the occasion of his mother’s birthday. He wrote, “Happy Birthday mummy…”
When Farah’s mom wasn’t keen on her marriage
Menaka Irani was the sister of actor Daisy Irani and screenwriter Honey Irani. Filmmakers Zoya and Farhan Akhtar are her niece and nephew. Menaka brought up Farah and Sajid singlehandedly after their father’s death.
In an old interview, Farah had spoken about how her mother threatened to throw her out of the house if she married at 22. Talking to the YouTube channel of Nova IVF Fertility, earlier this year, Farah said that she was always a ‘work oriented person’ and in her 20s, marriage and motherhood wasn’t on her mid. But, she mentioned, the though of marriage once crossed her mind at the age of 22 when her family advised her against it.
She said, “Marriage was not on my mind at all. I think at 22 or something, I thought I will get married but I have a weird family. They got together and they said we will kick you out of the house if you get married this young, without doing anything in life. So they were the complete opposite of what normal parents would do… My mother said I’ll throw you out of the house. You have to make something of your life. You have to be financially independent before you get married.”