Farah Khan says young actors lack confidence in directors

Farah Khan has never been one to soften a take, and her latest reflection on Bollywood’s new generation is a full-circle moment. The director-choreographer who gave us Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om says the era of superstars is over, and what worries her is not a lack of openings but a lack of trust.

Speaking on Neha Dhupia and Angad Bedi’s show Double Date, Farah said young actors are micromanaging creative decisions out of insecurity. The problem, she argued, is that they do not have confidence in anyone.

The trust gap

Farah’s point is specific: new actors want to control the choreography of a song, weigh in on music and influence casting. She sees that as the opposite of discipline. ‘All of this comes when you are not confident about yourself,’ she said.

• She says Shah Rukh Khan never interfered when she wanted Sushmita Sen in Main Hoon Na, even though Sen was not a big heroine at the time.
• For Om Shanti Om, she showed him a photo of Deepika Padukone, a newcomer, and his response was simple: ‘if you are fine with it, I’m fine.’
• Salman Khan, she noted, does not demand days off or refuse to shoot on Sundays.

What the veterans still get right

The 61-year-old also drew a line between today’s actors chasing magazine covers and award-show moments, and stars such as Shah Rukh, Amitabh Bachchan, Salman and Akshay Kumar, who she says maintain their original work ethic. Her larger message is that stardom relies on hard work and trust rather than interference.

That distinction matters for Hindi film fans because it helps explain why some films feel coherent and others feel like a committee drafted them. When an actor is second-guessing the director instead of preparing for the scene, the final cut often shows the friction.

Why the observation matters now

Bollywood is in a moment where new faces are often launched with massive social-media reach, and marketing teams treat every casting call and song hook as a strategic asset. Farah’s concern flips that logic: a film is not a brand extension. When every decision has to clear too many approval layers, the director’s voice dilutes.

There is a useful framework in her examples. Trust is not about blind faith; it is about an actor choosing a collaborator and then giving that collaborator room. In Main Hoon Na, the Sushmita Sen casting worked because the director’s instinct was allowed to stand. In Om Shanti Om, a debutant got the role partly because a hero trusted the director’s eye.

Farah’s own place in the conversation

Farah made her directorial debut with Main Hoon Na in 2004 and last directed the 2010 film Tees Maar Khan with Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif. More recently, she co-hosted Netflix’s Lock Upp: Sach Ya Saza with Riteish Deshmukh and has been sharing YouTube vlogs with her cook Dilip, whose on-off ‘firing’ became a running bit with fans.

It is a softer avatar, but her critique of insecure actors is a return to the plain-spoken voice that made her a favourite in the first place.

Source: India Today