Shah Rukh Khan at launch of Gauri Khan's coffee-table book 'My Life in Design': We had no money to furnish Mannat when we bought it

Work on the book included two rounds of photo shoots with the family - Gauri and Shah Rukh Khan and their three children Aryan, Suhana, and AbRam - in their current home in Mumbai. (Image source: Twitter/Gauri Khan)

There is more to Gauri Khan than just being Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s wife and a film producer at Red Chillies Entertainment, the company that they co-founded. She is an interior designer, and has a store called Gauri Khan Designs on Juhu Tara Road in Mumbai. Her professional journey is documented in the book My Life in Design, which was launched by the couple on May 15, 2023, at Hotel Taj Lands End in Mumbai.

Ebury Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House India, has published the coffee-table book, written by Gauri Khan in collaboration with author-screenwriter Bilal Siddiqi. It follows close on the heels of the television series Dream Homes with Gauri Khan on the Mirchi Plus YouTube channel, and The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives in which she made a guest appearance.

My Life in Design by Gauri Khan; Ebury Press

In the book’s introduction, she calls herself “a private person” but also mentions that her story can “help those who want to embark on a similar path” as she did. She writes, “My identity as a designer is something only a select few are privy to and that’s by design (pun) intended. I wanted to reach a place in my work where I felt confident about sharing my journey.”

Gauri Khan has worked on design projects for filmmakers Karan Johar, Farah Khan, and Kabir Khan; actors Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor, Sidharth Malhotra, Malaika Arora and Jacqueline Fernandez; and fashion designer Manish Malhotra, among others. The book contains several photographs featuring glimpses of Gauri Khan with them in their homes.

Gauri Khan (Image source: Twitter/GauriKhan)

Milee Ashwarya, publisher (Adult Publishing Group) at Penguin Random House India, who was in conversation with Gauri Khan and Shah Rukh Khan at the book launch, revealed that they began working on this book before the Covid-19 pandemic. There were two rounds of photo shoots with the family, which includes the couple’s three children Aryan, Suhana, and AbRam in their current home. These photographs are an integral part of Gauri’s vision for the book as her professional trajectory is connected to designing her own homes – the one where her parents live in Delhi; and the one where she, her husband, and children live in Mumbai.

Speaking about her fondness for her work, she said, “I love designing homes and bringing them to life. Seeing a smile on a client’s face is priceless. It gives me so much joy. I hope people who want tips on how to decorate their home find my book useful.”

There are chapters dedicated to design as an art form and an experience, ideation, understanding the assignment, working with spaces, using various kinds of materials, playing with colours, understanding textures and patterns, the significance of appropriate lighting, how to furnish a space, artistic objects and elements, leading a life as a designer, and professional challenges.

She writes about places that inspire her design aesthetic – the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, and Red Fort in Delhi – and influences from museums, flea market, bookstores, monuments, handloom shops, malls, temples and boutiques. She writes, “Seeing the great work that others do, be it local artists or internationally renowned ones, keeps my creative juices flowing.” Her BA Honours degree in history from Lady Sri Ram College and a fashion design course from the National Institute of Fashion Technology have also shaped her sensibilities.

Shah Rukh has written an affectionate and light-hearted foreword to the book. At the launch, he said, “When we bought the house we live in – Mannat – it was way beyond our means. It was broken and dilapidated, and we had no money to furnish it. The designer we were considering at that time served us lunch that probably cost more than my salary.” Given Gauri’s creative bent of mind, and their financial situation, it was decided that she would decorate it. They furnished the house using objects from different places bought on travels.

They have known each other since she was 14, and he was 18. Shah Rukh mentioned that Gauri could not devote time to her career as they got married early, and she got busy with raising the children and playing a big role in his career. “We are all proud of her. She is the busiest person in our family. She works very hard, and is up late at night making designs and making sure that her clients are happy. It gives her a lot of satisfaction. That’s what matters.”

He added that designing a house for a person or a family is a much bigger responsibility than making a film that one hopes the audience will like. “A house must be liveable and loveable. That is what a designer does, not acting on their own whims and fancies. Gauri brings warmth and a personal touch, but works in line with the needs and personalities of clients.”