Sara Ali Khan on Saif, Amrita and Growing Up With One Parent

Sara Ali Khan has always spoken warmly about her parents, but a new Filmfare cover conversation goes past the usual celebrity soundbite. She explains, with unusual clarity, what it was like to grow up with Amrita Singh as her primary parent and Saif Ali Khan as a steady but separate presence.

Amrita Singh wore both parenting hats

In Sara’s telling, her mother did not split the traditional roles. Amrita was the person Sara fought with, complained to and eventually made amends with. The actor draws a useful distinction between approval and permission: Saif was available for advice, but asking for permission was never his department.

“My mom was everything. She was the good cop, she was the bad cop,” Sara told Filmfare.

Permission was always Amrita’s territory — and still is. Saif was present, but Sara draws the distinction herself: that is not the same as living with two parents.

The moment she noticed a different family shape

Sara remembers a parent-teacher meeting where a friend had a father beside her and she had only her mother. Instead of turning that moment into a wound, she credits Amrita’s own upbringing — Amrita was raised by a single mother too — with giving their home a particular strength and vigour.

Saif’s contribution was a different kind of inheritance. She remembers trips to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Bernini’s sculptures in Rome and plays in London. “The academic upbringing was from his side,” she said.

Two parents, two clear roles

The interview leaves fans with a simple picture of how two parents can shape a child differently after separation:

• Amrita Singh: permission, daily discipline and the emotional anchor — good cop and bad cop in one.
• Saif Ali Khan: advice, travel, history, culture and education, without the daily permission calls.
• Sara’s frame: she says she is realistic, not delusional, and feels lucky that the structure worked for her.

There is a quiet truth here for anyone raised in a non-nuclear setup. Sara does not frame Saif’s absence as a failure; she frames it as a fact, and focuses on what each parent actually gave her. That may be the most useful part of the conversation for younger fans processing their own family stories.

It also gives a more personal window into the actor at a moment when her work is back in the spotlight. Sara Ali Khan was most recently seen in Udta Teer with Ayushmann Khurrana.

Source: Filmfare

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