Actor-turned-choreographer and director Ahmed Khan, whose Baaghi 2 is releasing on Friday, has set his sights on horses these days. The director said he is buying horses to be back into his family business. 

The choreographer-director said horses have always been his passion but he got drawn towards dancing and choreography. Now he wants to invest in his family business. Not many know that Ahmed’s father Yusuf Khan was a jockey and his family owned around 200 horses.  

“My father was a great jockey. I was the sixth generation of horse breeders and we trained horses. He had won derbys and races and won 1,100 medals. He is in the Guinness World Records for his achievements. I used to love riding horses and be with them. It was not an easy profession. We had to train hard every day early in the morning. Somehow, I got my first film as a child actor in Shekhar Kapur’s Mr. India and then I got attracted to dancing. My father never liked me dancing but my mom supported me. My dad used to think that it was a passing hobby and I would come back and join the family business as it was big money. My father passed away two years ago and we are planning to institute an award in his name in Mahalaxmi on April 16 this year,” said Ahmed. 

He is proud of the fact that his children will be the seventh generation to be dealing with horses. “I am going to buy four horses from Poonawala (a stud farm near Pune) soon and train them. My mom wanted us to keep the legacy of buying horses and insisted that my children should know about the family business.” 

“My children were surprised when I said my father was one of the top-seven jockeys in the world. My brother was into horse training but he fell off one and injured his spine so he no longer trains them. But he is running the business now,” Ahmed said.

Shama Bhagat