Feroz Khan

Feroz Khan (1939-2009): The Bollywood Baron from Bangalore.

The eminent actor-filmmaker Feroz Khan died after a prolonged illness at his private farm-house in Bangalore. He was 70. Also known as 'debonair-Khan' or 'casanova-Khan',(some prefer to call him the 'Indian Clint Eastwood') he carved a permanent niche in the film-industry both as a filmmaker and as an actor with a larger-than-life persona. There are indeed many 'Khans' in Bollywood, but Feroz Khan was of real Pathan stock.
Born in 1939 in Bangalore in a well-to-do business family, he left for Mumbai to pursue a career in the films. He did a few smaller roles before lauching himself as a producer,director and hero. A keen follower of world trends than the local ones, he went on to become a trend-setter in Bollywood. He combined his in-born business acumen with artistic talent to make a host of commercially successfull movies.
Feroz Khan is one of the few Bollywood filmmakers who prefered quality to quantity. In a career that span over four decades, he made only a handfull of movies. But each one had a distinctive Feroz Khan signature on it. He made action movies with a racy narrative, fast-editing,crisp-dialogues and sleek camera-works that mesmerized the audience. As an actor he knew his limitations well but he overcame them with creating his own style. He was perfectly at ease with handling a gun or riding a horse or driving a SUV. He set the trend of aspirational films in Bollywood that depicted 'what it should be' than 'what it is'. Clearly Feroz Khan was a filmmaker well ahead of his times.


Khan's movies were like a Harold Robbins pulp-fiction novel.His lead-charachters led a fast life, amidst sports cars, race-horses,stud-farms,bikes,discotheques,barbeques,billiard-tables, private-jets and other gizmos & gadgets. Unlike a typical Bollywood pot-boiler.he did not overcrowd his frames with people. Whether the characters or dialogue he always looked for what to exclude than what to include. In that sense Khan was a thorough minimalist by Bollywood standards. The same could be said about the costumes of many of his heroines too.

True to his on-the-screen personna , in real life too he lived life flamboyantly.The stories of his own playboy life-style was a regular feature in film-magazines of the times. There are many stories and anecdotes prevelent of his hobnobbing with the rich and famous. One such story was during the making of Apradh (1972) in Germany, the initial phase of shooting ran into rough weather with many obstacles. Then a chance meeting with a royal family member in Saxony (who later became his close family-friend) the rest of shooting went smooth and the crew enjoyed special privilages. Similar problem occured during the making of Dharmatma(1975) in Afghanistan, when the government was toppled by the rebels and the shooting had to be discontinued . But both the factions sent a message to the Khan, ensuring him that his film-making will not be affected.
A lover of horses, he was frequent in the racing circuit. His last major appearence was on MTV a few years ago to recieve the MTV style-icon award.
Keeping with the feudal tradition of Bollywood, his son Fardeen is also an actor, trying to cash in father's popularity and success, but so far largerly in vain.
List of Feroz Khan movies:
1) Apradh(1972)
2) Dharmatma(1975)
3) Qurbani(1980)
4) Jaanbaaz(1986)
5) Yalgaar(1992)
6) Prem Aggan(1998)
7) Janasheen(2003)