Actor Ibrahim Ali Khan has struggled with speech difficulties since childhood because of hearing loss induced by severe jaundice, he said in a recent interview with a US-headquartered magazine.

“Soon after I was born, I had very bad jaundice and that went straight to my brainstem. I went on to lose quite a bit of my hearing and that impacted my speech. My speech is something that I’ve had to work hard on since I was a child, with coaches and therapists. It’s not perfect; I’m still working really hard on it,” Ibrahim said during an interview with the US-headquartered men’s magazine GQ India.

In the interview, Ibrahim also opened up about his dream of becoming a cricketer before he decided to become an actor.

“I was good at cricket and even tried playing at the Ranji Trophy level, but I realised I wasn’t that good. There was a time when I didn’t know what I wanted to do. The realisation that I wanted to be an actor was gradual,” Ibrahim told the monthly magazine.

“I wanted my first film to be great. I wanted to be great in my first film. But I’ll learn, I have to learn,” Ibrahim added, speaking about his debut film Nadaaniyan, co-starring Khushi Kapoor.

The 24-year-old actor also talked about the relationship between his parents. “My mom and dad have done a great job of ensuring I didn’t feel the pain that comes with a broken home. I never saw them lose their cool at each other. Some things are just not meant to be,” he said.

He also recalled the frightening moment earlier this year when his father, Saif Ali Khan, was stabbed in a knife attack. “He was stabbed around 2:30am and I was informed at 5:30am. I hadn’t slept that night and I rushed to see him... At one point, when I heard he got stabbed, I started to think of the worst-case scenario. That’s a very scary feeling,” Ibrahim said.

The actor’s upcoming projects include Sarzameen and Diler.