I Wanted To Be A Vagabond Mansoor Khan Reveals Why He Quit Bollywood And Mumbai

Although Mansoor Khan’s directorial oeuvre is short and he hasn’t helmed a single project in the past 25 years, he is celebrated to this day for the lasting impact he left on Hindi cinema through the few films he created. The son of legendary director-producer Nasir Hussain, Mansoor made his directorial debut with the blockbuster Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988), starring his cousin Aamir Khan and actor Juhi Chawla in the lead roles.

He worked with Aamir two more times after that in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992) and Akele Hum Akele Tum (1995), before joining forces with Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai in Josh (2000), which remains his final directorial endeavour thus far.

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Although all his films were successes and remain cherished even now, Mansoor Khan is least interested in discussing them with anyone these days, as he has cut almost all ties with show business over the years and now lives in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, where he has a farm.

Aside from maintaining that films weren’t his true calling, Mansoor has also often stated that he didn’t even want to live in Mumbai after a point. During a recent interview, he opened up further about his life choices, noting that he is quite similar to the male protagonists in his movies, who wished to lead free-spirited lives. “I wanted to be a vagabond. That’s why my heroes are like that,” he told Variety India.

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Mentioning that the desire to move away from Mumbai was there in him even when he was a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Mansoor added, “We bought a plot of land in Mandwa, Maharashtra, in 1991 because I was sure I wanted to give up films. I enjoyed being there. By 1997, my land in Mandwa was being acquired by the government for a proposed international airport. Mandwa did not work out, and so, I shifted to Coonoor in 2003.”

Opening up about his farm, the former director noted that elephants and leopards are their frequent visitors. “There are a lot of species there. We have elephants and leopards coming in along with ducks, chickens and geese. They all co-exist. Elephants go down to the plains, but return. The leopard is actually a timid cat. In fact, the elephant is far more dangerous than a leopard. Our guests have seen the leopard drinking water at night from the pots kept for them,” he shared.

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Mansoor further noted that his wife, Tina Khan, is more obsessed with Coonoor than he is. He revealed that she even refused to consider relocating to Mumbai for a brief period when they faced financial issues at a point. The couple has two children together. Their daughter, Zayn Marie Khan, is also an actor.

Mansoor Khan had recently bankrolled the Sai Pallavi-Junaid Khan starrer Ek Din along with Aamir Khan. Directed by Sunil Pandey, the romantic drama underperformed at the box office.

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