Sara Ali Khan Birthday Special: ‘We didn’t grow up thinking paparazzi is our birthright’ 

Sara Ali Khan

Sara Ali Khan, who grew up with her mother and veteran actor Amrita Singh is grateful for the upbringing she's had, one that was beyond films and stardom. As she celebrates her birthday on August 12, we revisit her episode on Mid-day's Sit With Hitlist, where she shared how the paparazzi would hound her even before her first film. She also revealed that despite studying at the prestigious Dhirubhai Ambani school she wasn't treated differently.

Sara said, "I'm trying not to sound wrong, but I'm trying to be honest also, the more grateful I am for the upbringing that I've had. The more years I'm spending here, the more I'm realizing how easy it would have been for my mom to have brought me up differently and how grateful and thankful I am that she didn't. We didn't grow up thinking that paparazzi is our birthright."

She recalled being photographed before her debut film ‘Kedarnath' was released, stating, "I was trying to strike the balance between being rude to them (paparazzi) because I didn't want to be, but also not being photographed because what have I really done to be here? Like why am I being photographed? And all this happened before the whole nepotism chapter and chatter had started like a year into my work. I myself had started feeling that yes my mother is an artist, my father is an actor, but I am not, so why are they behind me? I am really grateful that I kind of grew up thinking like that because now when they photograph me, I have a very good equation with them because somewhere I think I've earned it."

Sara also mentioned how growing up with her mom kept her very real and grounded including no film friends. "Radhika Madan, Janhvi Kapoor, and Ananya Pandey are friends I made at work. I was not like, ‘Oh, our parents have been actors previously', so now we have special pani puri together. That was not the vibe at all."

Sara also revealed how she didn't even need security for the longest time until much later. "I didn't grow up having seven people around me handing me things. Mom was very certain that she wanted us to have a full life external to the films," she added.