‘By no means made this a lot in my profession’: Farah Khan on YouTube earnings, fame and unfiltered content material
Bollywood filmmaker, choreographer and now web star Farah Khan says her surprising second innings as a digital creator has not solely reshaped her public picture but additionally grow to be one among her most rewarding ventures — creatively and financially.
In a brand new dialog with actor Soha Ali Khan on a podcast, Farah revealed that her YouTube channel, launched in April 2024 and anchored largely round humorous cooking periods together with her prepare dinner Dilip, has grown into one among her largest revenue sources.
The channel’s large following — almost 3 million subscribers on YouTube and 4.5 million followers on Instagram — has turned her informal vlogs right into a full-fledged phenomenon.
“I don’t know what to say… large is relative,” she informed Soha, admitting even she was surprised by the size of earnings. Farah stated she has made extra in a single 12 months on YouTube than she did throughout a number of years of directing movies. “Perhaps in my complete profession, I’ve not made a lot cash,” she stated, calling the platform’s returns “stunning however welcome.”
For Farah, nonetheless, cash isn’t the principle takeaway. What really issues is the freedom she has by no means skilled in movie or tv.
“There will probably be anyone who has the cash who’s calling some pictures,” she stated, describing the standard filmmaking ecosystem. YouTube, in distinction, appears like an area fully managed by her: “That is yours and also you get to name the pictures… it’s 100% inventive freedom.”
That spirit of independence defines her complete course of. Farah stated she shoots her movies with out scripts, plans or retakes. “We actually don’t script,” she stated. Whether or not she’s cooking, chatting with friends, or just bantering, she insists the spontaneity is what audiences take pleasure in. Her humour, she added, works as a result of it’s “with out malice.”
She additionally takes care to guard her friends on digicam. If a second appears more likely to go viral in a means that will hurt somebody, she merely removes it. “Not like different channels that can make that your headline,” she stated.
Farah’s strategy to collaborations is equally unfiltered. She does her movies with out hair or make-up groups and buys most of her outfits on-line — usually from small sellers who later uncover her movies have boosted their enterprise. “They’re utilizing my full YouTube content material as an commercial,” she joked.
Relating to sponsorships, she is selective. “I would like to make use of that model. I should be okay with it,” she stated, including that there are classes she refuses altogether. “I don’t do medicines… if I’ve not used it, I can’t do.” Her message to companies is constant: “That is my channel.”
Even model integrations on her vlogs stay spontaneous. She recalled how a Cashify point out became an unscripted gag when her driver mistakenly known as it “Spotify” — a second manufacturers later appreciated for its authenticity. Farah famous that movies underperform largely when manufacturers try and micromanage content material, diluting the very persona that attracts viewers in.
Along with her unfiltered humour, unscripted course of and fiercely impartial philosophy, Farah Khan has constructed one among Bollywood’s most unconventional — and profitable — digital empires, proving that typically probably the most easy content material comes from merely being oneself.
