Feroz Khan: The only man who dared call Hema Malini ‘baby’

No woman ever said no to Feroz Khan . Not to a role. When Hema Malini was hesitant to play the brief role of an Afghani gypsy who gets bumped off after 20 minutes of her entry into the plot in Feroz’s directorial Dharmatma, Feroz was unperturbed. “Trust me, Baby. You will never be presented more classily,” Feroz promised. Hema melted. He was right.

Sridevi too was reluctant to do the brief role in Feroz Khan’s Jaanbaaz. She melted after he spoke to her in fluent Tamil. Feroz Khan wanted to be and do his best. He did everything in a larger-than-life way. When he didn’t like a set for Qurbani, he actually got it dismantled and built a new one. He wouldn’t compromise on his vision. What he created on screen was what he was in real life. Zeenat Aman who played the lead in the staggering Qurbani remembers Feroz as a thorough gentleman, “very charming and he epitomised a certain kind of masculinity that was way ahead of its times”. In Dharmatma which was a scene-by-scene ripoff of Francis Coppola’s The Godfather, Feroz decided to take on the challenge of making Hema Malini look more glamorous and sensuous than ever before. That was a tough job because Hema was constantly fighting to cover herself up more than the costumes by Parmeshwar Godrej in Dharmatma allowed.

Dharmatma was shot in Afghanistan. I don’t think any film unit had gone there before. The crew had to rough it out. It was freezing cold in Kabul. They had to stay in tents. In the evenings, the entire cast and technicians sat together to prepare for next day’s scenes. Feroz was always revved up about the films he was making. He shot them all over the world. For the climax of Qurbani, he went to London. He had international technicians in Qurbani, which was unusual for that time. He was gracious and loving till the end. The Khan family had been preparing themselves for his death for quite a few months. The entire family was there in Bengaluru at his farmhouse towards his end literally feeding him out of their hands. Feroz enjoyed his glass of wine in the evenings with his siblings till the end. He was buried next to his mother in Bengaluru. This was his last wish. He was much loved by all his friends and colleagues. Contrary to his flamboyant image, he was a very gentle sensitive soul. Even in his frail condition towards the end, he’d get up from his chair to greet each member in the family no matter how old or young. At the funeral in Bangalore, Celina Jaitley who was introduced by Feroz in Janasheen was horrified to see the poor turn-out from the film industry. There was just Celina, Sajid Khan, Sanjay Gupta and Kishen Kumar. And of course the entire family of Feroz Khan including Hrithik Roshan who at that time was married to Feroz’s niece. The last time Celina met Feroz was three weeks before his death. She met him at the Breach Candy hospital. He got into his Versace tracksuit to meet her. That was the man, stylish even when he was in acute pain. He had needles sticking out of his body but he was wearing Versace. Director Sanjay Gupta who planned a bio-pic on Feroz Khan, and dropped the idea as he couldn’t find an actor to play Feroz (son Fardeen is not at all like his Dad) once told me"There are two things one can never forget. The first time one has sex and the first time one meets Mr. Feroz Khan.” Famous last words. Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.