Menaka Irani, the mother of filmmakers Farah Khan and Sajid Khan, passed away at the age of 79. The news comes shortly after Farah shared on Instagram that her mother had undergone multiple surgeries.
On Menaka’s birthday, July 12, Farah posted two photos with her mother and penned a heartfelt note expressing her love and admiration for her strength. Farah admitted that she often took her mother for granted and hoped for her recovery so they could return to their usual banter. She wrote, “We all take our mothers for granted… especially me!” Farah also shared the family’s tough month, highlighting her mother’s humor and resilience despite the surgeries, and added, “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.”
While Sajid Khan also marked their mother’s birthday with a photo of himself with Menaka and Farah, simply captioning it, “Happy Birthday mummy…”
In an interview Farah recounted how her mother warned her against marrying young. Despite being work-oriented, Farah had contemplated marriage at 22, but her family, particularly her mother, opposed the idea, insisting she first achieve financial independence and career success.
Farah shared, “I think at 22 or something, I thought I would get married, but I have a weird family. They got together and 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.” Her mother told her, “You have to make something of your life. You have to be financially independent before you get married.”
Farah eventually married filmmaker Shirish Kunder on December 9, 2004, and they became parents to triplets in 2008 through IVF. Reflecting on her marriage, Farah mentioned on a TV reality show that there’s no standard age for marriage, emphasizing the importance of finding the right person. She admitted, “I wanted to run away in the first year of my marriage because it’s very difficult to adjust.”
Farah often credited her mother for her zest for life, noting that only Menka Irani could tell her to “shut up.”
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