Why Fardeen Khan is bringing his children back to Dubai: Schools, fatherhood and career comeback at 54

Dubai: It's not often that you walk into a Bollywood star's apartment and find yourself in the middle of an extraordinarily ordinary father-son moment.

No hovering publicist, no nanny whisking the child away, and no intimidating entourage treating the star's time like a matter of national security. But that's exactly what greeted me when I caught up with the actor earlier this week at his apartment overlooking the Dubai Marina. The views were suitably glamorous. The scene inside, decidedly less red-carpet and more domestic bliss.

His nine-year-old son, Azarius Fardeen Khan, sporting an adorable mop of curly brown hair, was eyeing the chocolates with barely concealed enthusiasm, while his father gently reminded him about manners.

There was some amusing negotiation over offering chocolates to “Manjusha aunty”, while Khan pottered around the kitchen making green tea for us.

In an industry where stars can summon a cup of tea with the slightest arch of a salon-perfect eyebrow, here was Fardeen Khan making his own, playing hands-on dad and chief enforcer of chocolate etiquette.

It felt less like interviewing a Bollywood star and more like catching up with an old friend. And Khan was in Dubai on an unusual shopping spree. Forget designer labels, luxury watches or Palm Jumeirah mansions, he was hunting for something far more elusive: a spot in a good school for his two children.

Like thousands of parents in this city, Khan is discovering that cracking Dubai's competitive school admissions scene can be quite a challenge. Turns out, being a Bollywood star doesn't make those dreaded waiting lists disappear.

"One of our top choices is Jumeirah College for senior and prep," Khan tells me, slipping effortlessly between discussing school admissions and checking on his son.

His daughter, 13, and son, who have spent the last couple of years studying in London, are preparing to return to Dubai next September. The family has been doing the rounds of school tours, navigating applications, and entrance assessments.

"I've been told it's got a difficult wait list," he says, with the air of a father who has just discovered that Bollywood's box-office battles might be easier to navigate than Dubai's competitive school admissions.

But before anyone rushes to declare another Bollywood star Dubai's newest resident, Khan has a clarification.

"I am not moving to Dubai. Okay. Let me be very clear."

While Khan remains based in Mumbai, where he has Bollywood projects to work on, his family is preparing to return to Dubai, the city his children once called home. And if there's one role he takes particularly seriously, it's being a father.

His son remains within earshot throughout our interview, with Khan periodically checking on him, affectionately calling out "Son". Even a discussion about streaming platforms reshaping Bollywood takes a back seat when he turns to his boy.

"Son, you good? Do you want something? Love you."

It's an endearing, unscripted moment. The actor who once made a career out of playing romantic heroes is now clearly in his element playing dad.

And he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Being a father was very very important to me. Always has been, and it's I think it's completed my life in the best possible ways," he says.

"I'm the most fulfilled when I'm with my children. There's nothing that even comes close, Manjusha. Nothing that even comes close."

Khan's love affair with Dubai is equally evident. He first visited the UAE as a teenager in the 1980s and has watched the city transform.

For him, the appeal goes beyond luxury hotels, gleaming skyscrapers and shopping malls.

"I could let my children run around in a mall without really actively supervising them," he says, praising the sense of safety and family-friendly culture that he believes makes Dubai special.

"It really feels like a second home."

But don't mistake Khan's relaxed, family-first avatar for someone who has quietly retired from the Bollywood rat race.

Far from it. At 54, the actor is enjoying an intriguing second innings, and his next film takes him straight into one of Mumbai's darkest chapters.

Khan is currently shooting Ram Gopal Varma's Police Company, a gritty crime drama inspired by the life of encounter specialist Daya Nayak and the years when Mumbai's underworld wielded enormous influence.

And in a startling revelation, Khan admits that he wasn't entirely insulated from the intimidation that gripped Bollywood during that period.

"I remember back in the day. I mean, even I had got calls from underworld," he says, explaining that the calls concerned doing certain kinds of movies.

He recalls an era when gangsters allegedly threatened actors, filmmakers and industrialists.

"The mafia had gotten too strong, and they were taking out industrialists, film producers, actors were under threats. You know, I mean, they were just literally. It felt like they were the ones ruling the land."

Khan doesn't elaborate on who called him or the circumstances surrounding those conversations, but his admission offers an intriguing personal connection to the world his new film explores.

In Police Company, he plays Qureshi, a tough police officer who forms an encounter cell.

"He's just not someone you would want to be on the wrong side of. That is who Qureshi is," Khan says.

The actor is particularly excited about reuniting with Varma, the filmmaker behind some of Hindi cinema's most memorable crime dramas.

"I've never worked with anyone better than Ram Gopal Varma. There's just no one like him."

For Khan, it's a full-circle moment. But then, his entire career seems to be made up of unexpected restarts.

There's something refreshing about a Bollywood actor admitting that he wasn't sure anyone wanted him back.

Khan, who returned to acting after a 12-year hiatus, makes no attempt to romanticise his comeback.

"I didn't even know if people wanted to see me. I didn't know if people wanted to work with me. I mean I literally just showed up."

And by showing up, he means doing the legwork.

He met casting directors, reconnected with filmmakers and put himself out there without expecting his surname or past popularity to open every door.

"I started from scratch again," he says.

It's a striking admission from someone who was once among Bollywood's most recognisable romantic leading men.

He returned with projects including Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Heeramandi, Khel Khel Mein, Visfot and Housefull 5, consciously choosing different roles rather than attempting to revive his chocolate-boy image.

"I've not tried to recreate any past magic. You know, I've come in with with a fresh, fresh approach, and all my roles have been very, very different."

But the fear of becoming irrelevant was real.

"When someone takes a gap of 12 years, you know, you're not even sure if you're ... really relevant. People have moved on."

And he's candid about the films that didn't work.

"Sometimes I've very happily forgotten some movies that I've done," he says.

Unlike actors who insist every project was a creative triumph, Khan seems comfortable acknowledging that his filmography has had its fair share of questionable choices.

He also admits that his debut wasn't exactly the dream launch people might imagine for the son of legendary actor Feroz Khan.

"I was banned. I was written off. All of that happened," he recalls of his early career.

Which is why he sees his current chapter differently.

"In so many ways, this is my third start."

And he's proud of it.

"For me to restart a career after a 12-year gap, it's impressive. I'm proud of it."

If Khan's professional life has been a roller-coaster, his parenting philosophy is surprisingly grounded.

He isn't the authoritarian father demanding unquestioning obedience from his children. In fact, he finds their Gen Z-style language rather amusing.

"When my daughter starts calling me bro, I'm like, okay, when did I become your bro? And I just find it cute."

He also has no interest in being addressed as the traditional Indian uncle.

"I hate being called uncle," he laughs.

His nieces and nephews simply call him Dean, and he's perfectly happy with that arrangement.

"Respect is something that's demonstrated," he says, arguing that it needs to be earned rather than demanded.

Khan is equally candid about the uncertainty that comes with parenting.

"I have come at a point in my life where I have surrendered to all the things that are not in my control."

He believes his job is to give his children love, security and the freedom to make mistakes.

"I can give them safety. I can give them security. I can give them infinite love. I can give them my understanding. I can give them my time. I mean, what more does a child want, Manjusha?"

It's a philosophy shaped by experience, including what he acknowledges have been difficult periods in his personal life.

"Yes, I've had dark times, I've had tough times, I've come out of that, and it's not been easy in so many ways."

But he draws a firm line when it comes to discussing matters involving his family, partner and children.

Some things, he believes, are best kept private.

At 54, Khan is also refreshingly unbothered about ageing.

Sporting a rather gruff beard during our interview, he insists he hasn't undergone cosmetic procedures.

"I haven't touched anything."

But he isn't one to judge those who do, nor is he ruling out treatments in the future.

"I'm not going to try and do it to look younger. I'm not going to try and reverse the clock."

His focus, he says, is on looking and feeling like the best version of himself at his current age.

It's a departure from the Bollywood era in which he became famous, when actors were often judged on how well they looked, danced and romanced their heroines.

Today, he believes audiences are far more discerning, thanks largely to streaming platforms that have opened up a world of international cinema.

And perhaps that's why Khan no longer seems obsessed with chasing the elusive blockbuster.

"I'm happy and I'm secure, and now I'm just acting for my own self," he says.

His upcoming projects include Kohinoor, a Netflix series associated with Ekta Kapoor's Balaji banner, in which he plays Malik Kafur, the military commander from the Delhi Sultanate era.

But for all the excitement surrounding his comeback, Khan's priorities seem to have shifted.

As our conversation draws to a close, the Dubai Marina skyline is beginning to light up. Khan admires the view from his apartment and tells me that's precisely why he chose to stay there.

"This is why I stayed here."

And perhaps that sums up where he is in life.

The man who once chased Bollywood stardom is now navigating school admissions, raising two children and rebuilding a career on his own terms.

The movie roles may be getting darker, but off screen, Fardeen Khan seems to have found his happy place.

And right now, that happy place involves finding a good school in Dubai for his two kids.