Soha Ali Khan pens biography on her life as an actress, occasional royal

The youngest child of Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, the ninth nawab of Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore, Soha Ali Khan is taking the plunge into the world of publishing with her debut book, The Perils of Being Moderately Famous. Known officially as ‘Nawabzadi Soha Ali Khan of Pataudi and Bhopal’, Soha writes about her bizarre and humorous life as a celebrity and occasionally a royal.

Soha made her film debut at 26 with roles in the Bengali film Iti Srikanta (2004) and the Hindi film Dil Maange More (2004) opposite Shahid Kapoor. Soha is mostly remembered for her roles in Rang De Basanti (2006) and Tum Mile (2009). She married actor Kunal Khemu in 2015.

Announcing her writing debut, Soha said she felt “excited, and a little bit nervous”. Penguin India is due to publish the book this year.

In a funny and self-deprecating manner, Soha revealed her reasons for putting pen to paper. She said, “If I had a dollar for every person who told me to write a book, I would have umm . . . six dollars. I do love to read and I do that quite well (510 words a minute), so it can’t be much harder to write, right? I also have some time on my hands, as most actors often do (stop sniggering). I can use this time creatively to pen down memories, some insights from what surely must be a life less ordinary. I am a princess after all. Try not to imagine me saying that whilst stamping my feet in a silver sequined dress with a tiara on my head.”

Before becoming an actress, Soha had studied modern history at Balliol College, Oxford and holds a Masters’ degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Soha warns that her book won’t hold any secrets “behind Kareena’s glowing complexion or how Bhai [older brother Saif Ali Khan] trains for an action film”. Instead, the book will focus on Soha and her life with only a passing reference to her famous family relatives. Soha is currently busy writing the book.