Kabir Bedi was 'emotionally ruined' by son Siddharth's death by suicide, lost all his money in bad investments: ‘Main tabaah ho gaya'

Indian Express

23-05-2025

Kabir Bedi, who went through many ups and downs in his life, recently spoke about his financial struggles that had him re-evaluate his decisions in life. Kabir shared that since he did not come from an affluent family, he was excited to earn some money internationally but gradually, he realised that his expenses were more than his earnings. His bad investments and a flamboyant lifestyle brought him to a place where he felt he would be 'on the streets' if he does not take control of the situation.
In a chat with BBC News Hindi, Kabir shared that in his early days, having some money gave him peace of mind. 'People who come from a background where finances are scarce, they always want to secure themselves financially so when I tasted success in Europe… I made some money and that was a very important thing for me because that gives you a sense of, 'I don't have to worry where my next meal is coming from or where my rent is coming from',' he said and added that the sudden influx of money can make one careless about their spending habits.
'If you have never had any money and suddenly you get some money, you think this will now be your permanent state and you start getting reckless with money. And if I were to give any advice to anyone, it would be that don't get careless with money. It's very difficult to make money but very easy to lose it,' he said and added, 'I made some wrong investments and lost a lot of money.' Kabir said that since one has tasted some stardom, they start spending a lot of money on the frills of being a star. 'You are a star, you should have a good house, good car, travel first class, that becomes your lifestyle and money keeps flowing out,' he said and added that people create financial problems for themselves in this fashion.
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Kabir shared that there was a phase in his life where he was 'ruined' financially and emotionally. He spoke about a time in the 1990s when his son Siddharth died by suicide and he did not have much money. 'Main tabaah ho gaya tha (I was ruined),' he said and added, 'Not just financially, but emotionally also because it came at a point where my financial investments went against me. At that time, my son passed away so it was such a time in the late 1990s that I didn't know what I was doing. I would go for auditions and I couldn't understand what I was saying. I lost work, opportunities and the situation just kept getting worse.' Kabir said that it was then that he decided to take control of the situation because he believed that if he lost it, then he would, 'Barbaad ho jaunga, sadko pe aa jaunga main (I will be ruined, on the streets.)' Kabir said that he decided to go back to his strengths and moved to England and he rebuilt his life doing one project at a time.
Kabir has appeared in international films like Octopussy, Sandokan among many others.