Gauahar Khan recalls being scorned by producers: One made my Kundali, other said ‘tum kya Madhuri Dixit ho’

Gauahar Khan stepped into showbiz almost 20 years ago through a beauty pageant. Today she is one of the nation’s most popular reality stars, and an actor who delivers consistent performance. “Grateful” for her journey, Khan says, “I’ve had my struggling years, where I thought I’m not going in the right direction.”

The Begum Jaan (2017) and Tandav actor barely opens up about the chinks in her armour, as she reasons, “I don’t talk about the things that don’t make me feel grateful about the better things I had in my life. I like to be in a state of gratitude.”

On a rare occasion, she does share with us about some of her struggles: “There have been days when I had to travel in local trains in Mumbai, distributing my pictures. I signed my first film in 2003. The news was all over the place. I was so excited about it! (But soon) They kept hanging [up on] me, and then they just dropped me. The muhurat was done with someone else. Thank God, it wasn’t my debut. I’ve had crazy experiences that I don’t want to recollect. I’m never bitter about it though.”

Talking about her interactions with producers, she recalls, “I’ve had people who’ve said to me, ‘You really think that koi producer tumhe welcome karega aur bolega tumhe leke picture banata hoon?’, ‘Tumhe kya lagta hai tum Madhuri Dixit ho?’”

She further shares, “Back then, there was this producer, he had produced the biggest blockbuster and a National Award-winning film. He took my date of birth and other information, saying that he doesn’t do anything without his panditji’s suggestions. I was called 10 days later only to be told, ‘You’ll never make it in the industry, you’ll never become an actress. Even if you do, you’ll only do shady and sidey roles’. I was just 22 then, but I still had confidence in myself, so I told him to watch me.”