Sanjay Khan

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Films were a strict no but Sanjay Khan used to see movies secretly During his growing days young Sanjay Khan’s father had banned watching movies. But Sanjay would secretly watch movies with help from the domestic servant. Every Sunday the house servant went to market to bring weekly household stuff, vegetable, meat, fish and other things from the city big market. Young Sanjay Khan would accompany house servant under the pretext of enjoying but he was very smart. Near the market was a theatre. Hence while the servant did shopping, Sanjay Khan would watch movie at the theatre. Sanjay Khan in an interview informed that the first film he saw was Raj Kapoor’s Awaara and he became his fan. Also the bug of acting stunk and he began doing theatre at school and later at college. College principal’s applause became instrumental in Sanjay Khan joining Bollywood Sanjay Khan studied at Germaine's College in Bangalore and was passionate in dramatics. Being tall and handsome he was selected to play British officer General Woolf in a play during college annual gathering. In the play he is shot by Indian freedom fighters and had to die. Before death he warns Indians that they would have to pay for his death. One day he was practicing the death scene right under the college principal’s window. With choked and gasping voice he was delivering his lines. The principal, who was busy in his work was alarmed by a dying man’s voice and peeped outside his window to check who is in pain. To his utter surprise he found his school students Sanjay Khan rehearsing his drama scene. Watching the principal, Sanjay was conscious and stopped. But the principal applauded his act and asked him to keep rehearsing. Till date Sanjay Khan recollects his principal’s compliment as it was this ‘praise’ that infused confidence in Sanjay to make a career in films. Sanjay Khan came to Mumbai to treat his thyroid problem Before Sanjay Khan arrived in Mumbai, his elder brother Feroz Khan, the handsome actor –director had come to Mumbai for holidaying. Feroz Khan was set to go to Germany for studying Engineering but before going for four year course, he took permission from mother and came to Mumbai for sightseeing. Incidentally he was spotted by a filmmaker, who was bowled over by Feroz Khan’s debonair personality and offered him a film. The film was hit and Feroz Khan cancelled his engineering studies and became a star. He bought a house in Mumbai’s Juhu area and began his film journey. Meanwhile Sanjay Khan was studying in Bangalore. However he developed thyroid problem hence Feroz Khan called him to Mumbai and treated Sanjay Khan with best doctors.

Sanjay Khan fell in love with Zarine when she was too young! Sanjay Khan came to Mumbai when he was 18 year old. Once, he was enjoying at Juhu Beach (Mumbai’s famous beach) when he saw a young pretty and charming girl. He was bowled over by her beauty and without thinking twice he daringly approached the girl and proposed to marry her! The girl was his future wife Zarine Katrak. Readers would be surprise to know that when Sanjay Khan proposed Zarine, she was just 12 years old!!! She had laughed –off Sanjay’s proposal but Sanjay Khan insisted and even promised her to construct a sea facing Bungalow for her. Zarine was impressed by Sanjay’s sincerity and the two became close friends. Later the duo tied the knot on April 16, 1966. The marriage has sustained for 50 long years!!!

Sanjay Khan got his first film thanks to pushing a car! After recovery from thyroid problem, when Sanjay Khan was about to leave Mumbai and go back to Bangalore, one day, a door bell rang. When Sanjay opened the door he found his neighbor asking Sanjay to push his car to help start. Sanjay helped him. Next day, the same neighbor, introduced himself to Sanjay Khan, as film director Satyan Bose and invited Sanjay to accompany him to Rajshree Pictures. Filmmaker Tarachand Barjatya was impressed by handsome looks of Sanjay and when he came to know that Sanjay has experience of theatre he was overjoyed and signed him in his film Dosti (1964). The film was super-duper hit and Sanjay Khan became a star over night. Sanjay Khan gave a hat-trick of hits to consolidate his stardom After the huge success of Dosti, Sanjay Khan was signed by Chetan Anand for his most ambitious film Haqeeqat (1964), which was based on Indo-China war of 1962. The movie was hit and its song Kar Chale Hum Fida Jaan-o-Tan Sathiyoon… stills a favorite. In Dosti and Haqeeqat Sanjay Khan played cameo hence his third release was his acid test because in this film Sanjay Khan played the lead hero for the first time. But call it destiny or clever choice that Sanjay Khan’s third film Dus Lakh was also a box office blockbuster and consolidated Sanjay Khan’s stardom. After this Sanjay Khan gave many hit films like Ek Phool Do Mali, Intaquam, Mela, Upaasna, Babul Ki Galiyaan, Nagin, Dhund, Mera Vachan Geeta Ki Kasam, Mastaan Dada, Abdullah etc. Sanjay Khan got the honor of directing Raj Kapoor In the late 70’s Sanjay Khan took a back seat as an actor due to the emergence of new bread actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor etc. Hence decided to change gears and like elder his brother, Feroz Khan, Sanjay Khan too turned producer-director. His first home production was Chandi Sona (1977) but the film was not able to make any mark at box-office. Upset Sanjay Khan took year break from Bollywood and in 1980 he came up with a power film Abdullah (1980). The title role was played by Raj Kapoor. Sanjay Khan, who idolized Raj Kapoor got the opportunity to direct Raj Kapoor. As Abdullah Raj Kapoor gave his career’s memorable performance and won many awards. The film was a huge hit. Its subject of secularism fetched it Tax-Free certificate which gave more business to the film. In 1986 Sanjay Khan made Kala Dhanda Goray Log on the grave issue of drugs but the film was a major disaster. After this he quit Bollywood and made his tryst in Television. He made many historical TV serials like the super-hit The Sword of Tipu Sultan (1989), Jai Hanuman (1997–2000) and Maha Kavya Mahabharat1 (2001) etc.