Farah Khan is no stranger to delivering blockbuster entertainers. From Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om to Happy New Year, the filmmaker has enjoyed a successful directorial career. But Tees Maar Khan remains the one film that broke her winning streak when it released in 2010. While the film was panned by critics and underperformed at the box office, it has since gained a loyal cult following.Speaking candidly on Shekhar Suman‘s chat show, Farah reflected on how the film’s failure affected her personally and professionally.
‘Everything I was doing was clicking’
Recalling that phase of her career, Farah said, “Before Tees Maar Khan, I had no period of gloom. Everything I was doing was clicking. Tees Maar Khan was the only time when I so-called ‘failed.’ Now, of course, it has become a cult film.”The filmmaker admitted that the criticism hit her hard and took time to recover from.“It was very painful, and yes, at that point I was devastated. I got up from my bed only after one week,” she said.
‘The trolling I faced was on another level’
Farah also spoke about dealing with online criticism at a time when social media was still in its infancy.“Luckily, there was no social media back then. There was only Twitter, and the trolling I faced there was on another level. I felt terrible because everything eventually gets back to you. There’s always one well-meaning friend who comes and tells you, ‘This person said this,’ or ‘That person said that.’ I kept thinking, ‘I’ve worked with all these people. Why is this person tearing my film apart?'” She explained that despite the absence of multiple social media platforms, the criticism surrounding the film spread quickly and affected her deeply, particularly because much of it came from people she knew within the industry.Although Tees Maar Khan was considered a disappointment upon its release, the film has undergone a remarkable reassessment over the years. Today, it enjoys cult status among a section of viewers, with many revisiting its comic moments, songs and dialogues long after its theatrical run.
