Kader Khan was a prolific actor and a phenomenal writer, however, not many know that Khan Saab was a teacher too. In a conversation with Pinkvilla, the actor-filmmaker’s son Shah Nawaz Khan remembers his father. “Abba was a very busy actor and a writer, however, he would always take out time to teach. He would teach applied mechanics, and his students would often come for the tuitions at night after Abba returned from shoot. He would come from work, teach, eat food, go to bed, and then again gear up for an early morning shoot. I always saw him as this larger than life personality,” shares Shah Nawaz.
He adds that besides acting, his superstar father was extremely passionate about studies too. “I remember in 2005, he went to London, gave some civil engineering exam, and got diploma from there. He was very proud of that, and really loved books. In fact, if anyone ever came to him with a problem related to studies, he would go out of his way to help them. He was once shooting for Vashu Bhagnani ji’s film, and his son Jackky was facing some issues with mathematics. So Abba taught him, and he passed the subject. He had even taught Urdu to Shilpa Shetty, who wanted to grow as an actor and learn the language,” smiles Shah Nawaz. 
Shah Nawaz recalls that every Sunday people would be waiting outside their building to get a glimpse of Khan Saab. The former also informs that Kader Khan was a very simple person. “He preferred vegetarian over non-veg food, followed a simple lifestyle, didn’t like wearing colourful clothes, and would mostly wear white pathanis. In fact, not many people know that he would never sleep on the bed. He was so used to sleeping on the floor since childhood, that even if he was staying at a seven star hotel, he would still sleep on the floor,” reveals Shah Nawaz.
On set I have met Govinda ji a lot. Shakti Kapoor Saab and Govinda ji were like my father’s sons
Shah Nawaz Khan
Besides being a fan of Kader Khan’s acting performances, Shah Nawaz is also a fan of his father’s writing. “Let me share an incident with you. My family and I had gone to Prakash Mehra’s ji theatre in Juhu for Agneepath’s trial show. We walked in after the credits had rolled, and through the film I didn’t see Abba anywhere. So I was wondering why they were showing us the film. Then years later, when I was in college, my friends and I would often mouth Agneepath’s dialogues. Which is when one of my friends asked, if I knew who had written the dialogues of that film. I was unaware about it, so she told me that it was my father. I was so pleasantly surprised that I immediately went to my dad’s office and bowed down in front of him,” shares Shah Nawaz.
As a child, Shah Nawaz would also visit a lot of film sets with his father. “On set I have met Govinda ji a lot. Shakti Kapoor Saab and Govinda ji were like my father’s sons. In fact, Umar 55 Ki Dil Bachpan Ka was shot at our Khandala bungalow, and I remember playing table tennis and cricket with Shakti Sir there. Those are really beautiful memories,” Shah Nawaz remembers fondly.
