Fardeen Khan says he ‘didn’t deserve’ Filmfare’s Best Debut award for Prem Aggan; recalls ‘people took their money back’

Actor Fardeen Khan, who is all set to make a comeback in Bollywood with horror drama Visfot, has talked about the tough times he faced in his career after the release of his first movie Prem Aggan. He appeared in the 1998 film opposite Meghna Kothari, and also won the Filmfare award for Best Debut. However, the actor now says that he does not think he deserved that award. Also Read| Fardeen Khan opens up on father’s death, health scare, and losing twins after wife’s IVF: ‘Natasha really suffered’

Fardeen says despite the award he received, the reviews he got for his performance were negative. The movies he was offered were taken back from him, and he landed in a financial pit.

In a recent interview with Bollywood Hungama, the actor said, “I don’t think I deserve that award. It was a culture and stuff back then, that people got awards like that. I look at my work, I definitely didn’t deserve that. The film didn’t work, I didn’t work, I looked back and I thought I was horrible. I sat at home for a whole year. I had no work, the films I had signed before that, people took their money back. I had spent some of the money that I had been given, so I had to return that money.”

Fardeen recalls that after that, his father Feroz Khan told him that he will give him a roof over his head and food for one year. Feroz would give Fardeen ₹50,000 a month, and tell him that he needs to do it on his own. Meanwhile, Fardeen had bought a car, the EMI of which was ₹22,000 per month, and he couldn’t even save enough money to afford gas for the vehicle.

Fardeen recalled, “So he was very very strict, my dad. Because he was a completely self-made man and he just didn’t believe in protecting you, especially in terms of economic reality. That whole year went by, I went into a bit of a shell for some time. the reviews were awful, nobody wanted to work with me. Then I kind of picked myself up, started working out, coming out with a plan to meet people and go out there. I continued working on my Hindi which was very very bad for my first film.”

Fardeen noted that apart from his father, it is director Ram Gopal Varma to whom he owes his career. After Prem Aggan, Fardeen was seen in Ram Gopal Varma’s film Jungle. Fardeen also thanked actor Urmila Matondkar, who starred with him in Jungle and his next movie Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya. Fardeen said that after the failure of his first movie, nobody wanted to star alongside him, but Urmila was very happy to work with him.