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Soha Ali Khan shared on The Quizzitok Podcast that her father, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, stressed financial awareness and savings despite their elite lineage.
Soha Ali Khan shared that her father, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, was careful with money.
Soha Ali Khan may be Bollywood royalty, but her childhood wasn’t as lavish as one might assume! The daughter of cricket legend Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and veteran actress Sharmila Tagore, Soha recently revealed that despite their elite lineage, their father made sure they didn’t grow up feeling entitled. In fact, he led them to believe they weren’t financially well-off!
Spilling the details on The Quizzitok Podcast, Soha shared that while she was raised in luxury, her upbringing kept her and her siblings—Saif Ali Khan and Saba Ali Khan—grounded. She said, “I am aware that I grew up in the lap of luxury. We lived in a beautiful house in Delhi, opposite Sena Bhawan, which I realised 20 years later that we shouldn’t have gotten so comfortable in because it was taken away from us. We had a lot of things that I am sure many others don’t.”
Soha Ali Khan shared that as a child, she didn’t realise how privileged she was. She studied at a school, where many of her classmates came from wealthy families. “But, as a child, you don’t really take note of how much privilege you have. I attended The British School, where many came from similar or even wealthier backgrounds. People who know about princes in India would also know that though they have a lot of traditions, fine clothes and some land, they may not have a lot of cash. At least my father gave the impression that we had no money. He was most concerned with the cost of petrol and electricity. We had one telephone with a huge extension cord and one would have to follow it to find who had the phone and it was more often than not my sister, locked in her room,” she said.
Soha Ali Khan shared that her father, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, was careful with money. “But my father would sit on top of that phone all day long and at night, when he went to bed, he would lock it. He would also leave post-it notes all over the house saying ‘turn off the lights’. If I wanted to go to a friend’s house, he would say: ‘Petrol is very expensive.’ So, we were very aware of the value of money. When somebody once gave me Rs 500, he said, ‘You can either take this now or I’ll give you Rs 50 every August for the rest of my life.’ I handed the money to him and he kept giving me Rs 50 every year until I was 25. That was a lesson in investment and savings,” she added.
Soha Ali Khan shared both her parents taught her about managing finances. Soha recalled, “Because he lost so much in life, he didn’t take anything for granted, particularly money. My mother always did hisab-kitab (accounting). I remember, when we were growing up, she would sit with the cook after lunch and do hisab-kitab and hence, knew the price of vegetables. Although I wasn’t spoiled, I did enjoy being a princess.”
