Veteran actress Farida Jalal had once opened up about a deeply personal chapter of her life — her parents’ divorce and how it shaped her early years.
During her appearance on the celebrity talk show “Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai,” Jalal revealed that her parents separated when she was just two years old, following which the court ordered that the children be sent to a boarding school. The ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’ actress shared that her mother eventually took custody, and those experiences left a lasting impact on her childhood. When asked what drew her towards acting, Farida Jalal shared that her journey into films happened quite organically. Growing up with a deep love for performing and storytelling, she found herself naturally inclined toward the stage.
Farida Jalal shared, “As far as I remember, I always wanted to do acting in my life. Even in your childhood? Yes, I used to do a lot of dances in school. The function always had an Indian dance by Farida Sami. My real name is Farida Sami. My parents divorced when I was a two-year-old. Then, they had custody of the kids. Then the court had ordered that the kids be put in boarding school. And my mother took the custody.”
She went on to narrate, “That was a missionary school. One thing they would ask me. First and foremost, Farida, please translate it into English. The song that you are doing, what does it mean? So, there was a song which went a little… Come in the shade of my eyelids. He said, no, no, no. See, you can’t dance on such a song. So, another song was taken. Can you believe it? I danced on.”
In 2021, Farida appeared on the show, hosted by Farooq Shaikh.
In a remarkable career spanning nearly five decades, Farida Jalal has appeared in over 200 films. She became a familiar face in some of Hindi cinema’s most memorable hits, including “Raja Hindustani,” “Dil To Pagal Hai,” “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,” “Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai,” “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham,” and “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.”
