Arshad Warsi’s father lost his 23 Mumbai properties, he grew up overnight after parents died at 16: ‘I worked as a salesman’

Arshad Warsi lost parents at the age of 16. (Photo: Arshad Warsi/Instagram)

Arshad Warsi has made audiences laugh with his impeccable comic timing in films, but not many know that the actor lived a difficult life after losing both his parents at the age of 16. He worked as a salesman and struggled to take care of his family after his father passed away, taking up several odd jobs before eventually entering the world of dance and choreography in films, which later led to him playing lead roles in Hindi cinema. In a recent interaction, Arshad recalled those painful memories and also spoke about his father Ahmed Ali Khan, an Urdu poet who had worked as a musician in Hindi films.

Speaking to The Lallantop, Arshad said, “My father’s name was Ahmed Ali Khan. I have heard that he used to play harmonium with Jaddanbai (one of the pioneers of Indian cinema). He used to do shayari and he was well read in Urdu. I had heard all of these things about him because ever since I was little, I went to boarding school. So, I used to come home only during vacation and during vacations I don’t think any kid is interested in hearing his dad’s shayaris.”

Arshad Warsi with his wife Maria Goretti. He started in Hindi cinema as a dancer. (Photo: Express Archive)

Arshad further shared that his father was a “terrible businessman” and left no assets behind for his children. “I think I have gotten my sense of humour from him. His sense of humour was good. He was a funny guy, but he was a terrible businessman. Whatever he owned, he lost it. He liked distributing things to people. I remember seeing actors, Jagdeep and Yunus Parvez at my house. Feast used to be prepared at the house and they used to sit with my father around.”

The Munna Bhai actor also recalled how his father once gifted his own gold lighter to a guest without any hesitation. “I remember, he had a gold lighter, made of real gold, and once someone complimented the lighter, and he just gifted it to that man. I also remember that my dad owned a good car like a Volkswagen, and my uncle had banged it, and my father just gifted that car to him.”

Witnessing his father’s behaviour, Arshad said, made him mature at a very young age. “I realise that if you start distributing from both your hands, you will lose everything I became sensible early,” he said.

The actor also shared that his father once owned several properties in Mumbai but eventually lost everything. “My father had 23 buildings on Grant Road, but at that time a law was passed at those who are living as tenants will become owners and my father put the properties in the name of certain people, hoping that they will give him back, but it never happened, everything went away.”

Arshad further revealed that he had to grow up overnight after losing both his parents. “I was 16– 17 when my parents passed away. I was enjoying my life and I grew up overnight after that, from tomorrow, I am an adult. I stopped everything like partying roaming around with friends, I stopped everything and started working,” he said.

He recalled he became a travelling salesman who will go door to door selling a shampoo. He called the product terrible and would smell so much. However, Arshad marketed it as a natural, organic product and managed to make a success of it.