Feroz Khan

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He was a fashion icon since childhood Feroz Khan was born in a rich Pathan business family. He did his schooling from Convent schools like Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore and St. Germain High School, Bangalore. Since his childhood he was a movie buff and would watch Hollywood films. He would ape Hollywood actors like Douglas Fairbanks, Tony Curtis and Clark Gable and dream of making it big in films. Even in his teens he would be a star attraction in parties when he would stun everybody with his fashionable dress sense wearing cowboy hat, leather boots, jeans and jackets.

Feroz Khan had a smooth married life… until the other woman brought wreck! Feroz Khan lived a life of a Casanova with beautiful girls surrounding him all the time. He was in news for his hot affairs with his co-stars like Mumtaz, Zeenat Aman etc but this dashing debonair lost his heart to pretty girl called Sundari. Like Feroz Khan she was also a frivolous and exuberant woman and a party animal too! Thus the two came close during a rock party and soon were dating each other. After few years of dating the two wedded in 1965 and were later blessed with two beautiful children daughter Laila in 1970 and son, Fardeen, in 1974. Few are aware that Sundari was a married woman with a daughter, whom the couple kept in secret. For ten years the couple enjoyed a smooth married life. Further Sundari brought good fortune to Khan as after marriage Khan’s career got a boost and he became a reputed actor. But alas when everything was going cool, Feroz met a gorgeous girl called Jyotika Dhanrajgir of the renowned Dhanrajgir family. Feroz began remaining away from family and would spend most of the time at his Bangalore farm house with the lovely Jyotika. Film magazines were filled with grapevine about their hot romance and this brought wreck in Khan’s married life. Soon the famous FK Bungalow in Juhu was divided into two parts. Sundari along with her kids began living separately on the ground floor and Feroz Khan would live along at the first floor of the bungalow. Few years later Feroz Khan had a showdown with Jyotika and the two got separated. Feroz Khan returned to his wife Sundari. Though the two began living together but the love had lost its sheen!

Feroz Khan worked at Pool Table to survive in Mumbai When Feroz Khan came to Mumbai in the early 60’s to become a hero he had to face bitter rejections hence to make a living in Mumbai he used to work at a pool Table. When things became difficult and hopes of hero role looked dim he accepted whatever minor roles he got in B-grade films like Didi (1960), Reporter Raju (1962, and an International film Tarzan Goes to India (1962). Interestingly his younger brother Sanjay Khan, who joined Bollywood two years later, became an instant star with his debut film Dosti. B.R.Chopra gave a new lease of life to Feroz Khan Despite famous filmmaker Phani Majumdar ‘s Oonche Log (1965) opposite Ashok Kumar and Raaj Kumar and Ramanand Sagar’s Arzoo (1965) opposite superstar Rajendra Kumar, Feroz Khan was not able to make impact in Bollywood. Eventually film legend B.R.Chopra made his life with an anti-hero role in his film Aadmi Aur Insaan opposite the dashing handsome hero Dharmendra. Actually B.R.Chopra had initially offered the role to actor Raaj Kumar but he declined as he was committed with other films. Feroz Khan grabbed the role with open hands and pumped all his energies into the role. The result was that he delivered his career’s most powerhouse performance and won the Best supporting actor Filmfare award. The award boosted Feroz Khan’s reputation in Bollywood and he became a craze as a parallel hero with Sanjeev Kumar in Ek Paheli, Sunil Dutt in Geeta Mera Naam, Sanjay Khan in Mela, Dharmendra in International Crook, Rajesh Khanna in Safar etc. In fact in Safar and International Crook; Feroz Khan overpowered both Rajesh Khanna and Dharmendra as he was even nominated by Filmfare award as supporting actor in both the films! Feroz Khan turned down Amitabh Bachchan’s Hera Pheri for his passion for direction In the 70’s though Feroz Khan became a famous star but he was only limited as a parallel hero. He was not getting the lead hero roles which he wanted to do to prove his histrionics. In an interview he said, “I was stereotyped as a parallel hero and this made me restless. Hence I decided to turn director and produce my own film. In this gamble I lost Prakash Mehra’s film Hera Pheri, where I was originally cast as Amitabh Bachchan’s friend. The role was played by Vinod Khanna.” Feroz Khan’s first home production under the banner of F.K. International was Apradh, a spy-action thriller featuring the famous car racing scene shot on the real car race track in Germany. Besides the movie had gorgeous Mumtaz appearing in a bikini for first time in Bollywood, catching locales and good music like Hamare Siva Tumhare Aur Kitne Diwane Hain” and “Tum Mile Pyaar Se”, were a rage. However the biggest hit was the Helen song E Naujawan Hai Sab Kuch Yahan… The movie was a hit and it gave Feroz Khan the confidence to move ahead, which he successfully did with movies like Dharmatma, Qurbani, Dayavan, Janbaaz, Yalgaar and Janasheen in which he introduced his son Fardeen Khan.