I’ve a simple mantra: I must do one good deed every day, says Farah Khan – bollywood

Every morning, when she wakes up, Farah Khan clearly doesn’t have only her family/loved ones on mind but also many others, who “are going through unimaginable situations” during the Covid-19 induced lockdown. “I’ve a simple mantra: I must do one good deed every day,” says the filmmaker.

Be it getting sanitary napkins for lady cops, arranging for masks, groceries, distributing water bottles for migrant labourers, helping a lady in Chennai who takes care of street dogs [after reading a story in HT City/Café] or now, “initiating the process of sponsoring” Jyoti Kumari Paswan’s [the 15-year-old girl who cycled with her father from Gurugram to Bihar’s Darbhanga], Khan has been at it, without break.  

“Not just me, there are so many people, who want to do good work but don’t know how to do it. But at the same time, I am so proud of my friends such as Sonu Sood, Vikas Khanna and even Shah Rukh [Khan], who is doing amazing work through Meer Foundation,” says Khan, whose 12-year-old daughter, Anya has raised Rs three lakh through her sketches.

“Till date, Anya – who is an animal lover – has done about 150 sketches. It’s nominally priced at Rs 1,000 a sketch but people have paid more as well,” she says. The money has been used to buy groceries for people in slum pockets of areas such as Thane, Kalyan and even Juhu Galli. The Chennai lady was also helped through Anya’s sketch money. Apparently, Maneka Gandhi has written a mail to Farah saying she is “very impressed” by Anya’s work.

Ask Farah about all of it, and she says: “I’ll continue to do whatever is within my capacity. I lived through a poor childhood. Probably, that’s why I’m empathetic towards people, especially poor. I’ve worked very hard – and also with God’s blessings – to reach where I’m today. So, the idea should be to give back to the needy when you have enough.”