In 1989, the sets of The Sword of Tipu Sultan at Premier Studios, Mysore, turned into a nightmare as a massive fire broke out due to faulty firefighting equipment and gross negligence of safety protocols. The horrific blaze that fateful day claimed the lives of 52 crew members. Sanjay Khan, who was the lead actor and director of the project, reportedly suffered over 65% third-degree burns across his body. Sanjay’s son, Zayed, who was just 11 years old at the time, shared how the tragic event deeply impacted his childhood.
Zayed Khan recalls the tight financial conditions when Sanjay Khan got into the accident
In a conversation with Siddharth Kannan on his YouTube channel, the actor revealed that, even at such a young age, he wanted to ease the emotional and financial burden on his family by going to boarding school, believing it would mean one less responsibility for the overwhelmed family. The Main Hoon Na actor shared:
“Dad’s fire accident happened at that time. There was a lot of difficulty in the house. I saw my mother and sisters in a condition which was very disturbing and hurtful for me… There was no insurance at that time, so the family was extremely burdened financially. I just thought that the best thing I could do is take off my burden by going to boarding school. We took autos, sold cars, and our house was mortgaged… It was very tough. I was only 11 years old.”