Remembering Feroz Khan, India’s coolest actor ever

I have to agree with my friend Fardeen when he says his father Feroz Khan was one of his kind. There will never be another Feroz Khan. He was by far the coolest actor of India. In fact the word ‘cool’, so abused in recent times, seems to have been invented to describe Feroz, or FK as his friends called him.

Feroz started his career with a bit role in Hum Sab Chor Hai. His first lead was in a film titled Ghar Ki Laaj. Feroz spent most of the 1960s playing the guy who loses the heroine to another guy, mostly played by actors who didn’t have half of Feroz’s charm. One can understand Feroz losing Saira Banu to Dharmendra in Aadmi Aur Insaan (though admittedly he had the gorgeous Mumtaz’s shoulder to cry on) and to Rajesh Khanna in Safar. But how could he lose Mumtaz to Sanjay Khan in Mela, and never mind if he was his own brother?

In the 1970s Feroz re-invented his career as a leading man, Indian cinema’s first and only cowboy in Khote Sikkay and Kala Sona . But by mid-70s it was clear that Bollywood couldn’t decide where to position this urbane cowboy .It was time for Feroz to create his own opportunities.

In 1972 he turned producer director with the slick action thriller Apradh. Pal Mumtaz, who was to later become his samdhan (Feroz’s son married Mumtaz’s daughter) stepped into the heroine’s stilettos. The film, shot in Germany, was a big success .In 1974 Feroz directed his ambitious unofficial remake of ‘The Godfather’ with the title Dharmatma with Premanth playing Marlon Brando (no, Brando didn’t sue) and Feroz in the Sunny Corleone role.

Hema Malini who hada guest appearance in Dharmatma recalls Feroz’s cool quotient with a smile. “He was the first and last man who called me ‘Baby'. No one has ever dared. I wish they would. What a suave man he was. When I agreed to do Dharmatma he made it very clear I was there in the first-half only. He said, ‘You can't say no, Baby!' That was a new experience for me. My mother was more shocked than I was. With everyone addressing me as ‘ji' it feels nice if someone comes up with a term of endearment.

He decided to take on the challenge of making me look more glamorous and sensuous than ever before. That was a tough job because I was constantly fighting to cover myself up more than those costumes by Parmeshwar Godrej allowed. I don't think I've ever used so many safety pins in my entire lifetime. He wanted me to be as uninhibited as today's heroines. That wasn't possible for me. We shot Dharmatma in Afghanistan. I don't think any film unit had gone there before. It was a memorable experience. And we really had to rough it out. It was freezing cold in Kabul. We had to stay in tents. In the evenings we'd all sit together and prepare for next day's scenes. Otherwise after shooting I always kept to myself. But he persuaded not just me but also my mother to join the unit in the evening. ‘Come on, Mom. Join us.' My mother was taken aback. We're basically very shy people. But he'd make her part of the discussions. That's the way to make films. One gets so charged and enthusiastic. I wish Feroz Khan and I had done more films together."

Sridevi who got a image makeover in Feroz Khan Jaanbaaz with just one Har kissiki nahin milta yahan pyar zindagi mein had spoken to me fondly of Feroz soon after his death. “What an impact that ten-minute role left on audience! It was because of Mr Feroz Khan’s presentation that I made an impact in Jaanbaaz. At first I was hesitant because it was just a guest appearance. Also the presentation seemed a little too sensuous for my personality. But when Mr Khan spoke to me in my mother tongue I was immediately convinced. Yes, I was as surprised as you are. But he spoke fluent Tamil... He was a very classy gentleman and his cinema reflected that. I was very proud to be in Jaanbaaz. It proved it’s not about the length of the role but the impact.”

It was Feroze Khan’s Qurbani that left his most indelible mark as a filmmaker. The film’s suave presentation was never seen before in Indian cinema. Zeenat Aman who sang and danced her way to superstardom with Aap jaisa koi and Laila main laila, lights up when speaking of Feroz. “We shot the song Laila oh laila for another film altogether with another title. After we shot it, Feroz Khan being the mercurial movie moghul that he was, decided to scrap the original film, script and title. He instead decided to make Qurbani overnight. We were fine with the decision because we had only shot that song.So Qurbani was born after we filmed the song.”

Zeenat remembers the phenomenal reach of the song. “When we were shooting the song we never thought it would acquire such an iconic status. I mean , we had a lot fun shooting it. But I never thought I’d be remembered by Laila oh laila and Aap jaisa koi in Qurbani to this day. I don’t remember if we had a formal choreographer on the sets. But I do remember Feroz just told me to do my own thing. Whether it was Laila oh Laila in Qurbani or Dum maro dum in Hare Rama Hare Krishna I grooved to my own beats. Today wherever I go I am asked about these two songs.”

Feroz Khan and Vinod Khanna who were co-stars in Qurbani and in Dayavaan (Feroz Khan’s awful remake of Mani Ratnam’s Nayakan) died on the same date (though in different years).