Sharing blessings and heartaches

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

Growing up with four brothers and two sisters in Bangalore was simple, carefree and unadulterated fun! My dad Sadiq Ali Khan was strict but that really didn’t stop us from getting into fights with neighbourhood kids! Mum Fatima, was a gentle, nurturing housewife and never interfered much with the discipline part. Films were taboo and the first movie I saw was Awaara and since then Raj Kapoor became my icon. Strange indeed are the ways of fate because I never dreamt that I would one day direct him in my film Abdullah.

My father died when I was nine and my amazing mother morphed into a businesswoman overnight. That was when I realised I had to grow up fast,” he says candidly.  
It is not hard to reconcile Sanjay (Abbas) Khan, the charming movie star with the old Bangalore boy, who talks nostalgically about growing up in Cooke Town while relaxing in his luxurious resort Golden Palms, on the outskirts of the City. “Whenever I get a chance I come here for some rest and relaxation,” he smiles.
A voracious reader, he prefers to spend quality time with people who matter to him rather than attending huge society events where everyone makes an appearance and meaningless polite conversation. “I studied in St Germaine’s School and my teacher Mrs Joseph used to pin my hair back with a bob-pin as it constantly fell over my forehead in class,” he laughs. “Her favourite saying was ‘handsome is as handsome does’ as my friends used to call me handsome.’’
‘‘Bangalore was so chilly then that mum used to make sure that the whole house was tightly sealed from draughts before we had our baths, lest we caught pneumonia,” he remembers. Falling in love with Zarine, chartering his movie career which has been a heady mix of success and failures, his iron will and imagination have seen him through some pretty tough times.
“I was recuperating from the horrific accident on the sets of Tipu Sultan. I underwent 72 surgeries and spent 13 months wrapped up like a mummy on a hospital bed. My mind, however, was soaring outside like a bird and I occupied myself visualising what I would do with the land I had acquired on the outskirts of Bangalore. I dreamt of building a beautiful resort. I planned about it while I lay on the hospital bed, it helped me keep my sanity,” he says.
His biggest blessing is his family. His wife Zarine, whom he fell in love with as a teenager and married after a six-year long courtship and his goodlooking successful brood. But Zarine has had her fair share of blessings, heartache and troubles too.
Says Zarine, “We fell in love in Mumbai when we were very young and have been blessed with four children — Farha, Simone, Suzanne, and Zayed, who are all settled. Fame and fortune as well as unimaginable stress have taught me that life can never be taken for granted. I’ve taken Sanjay’s near brushes with death (a fire and a helicopter accidents) in my stride with the maxim: ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’.’’
Zarine elaborates: ‘‘I was a Femina model and later became an interior designer. I incorporate ideas from my travels around the world in my designs. After Sanjay’s horrific accident, the best way we both recovered was by throwing ourselves into designing and creating his dream project Golden Palms, where we later held our daughter Suzanne’s wedding. There are reflections of our personalities right through the resort and Sanjay often flies family and friends there when he wants to spend some quality time away from hustle of Mumbai.”   
The Khans are firmly entrenched in the party circuit of Mumbai but they say it cannot compare to smaller intimate evenings with close friends, something they try to do often. Music and reading are also two of the interests they both share and although work is still something they are pretty immersed in, spending time with the grandkids is a huge priority.