‘My relationships are not all about sex’

That’s quintessentially Feroz Khan—unbridled and unpretentious about love and life

Frank Sinatra’s song I will do it my way, is Feroz Khan’s anthem. That also explains why the voguish Khan helmed many a firsts in Bollywood. If he shot the Formula 1 race in Germany in Apradh (1971), he also filmed the Buzkachi horse sport in Afghanistan in Dharmatma (1975). While he introduced singer Nazia Hassan and composer Biddu to Bollywood in his Qurbani, he also pioneered the first 24 track recording with the Aap jaisa koi number. If Dayavan boasts of a two-minute long kiss (the longest ever) between Vinod Khanna and Madhuri Dixit, in Janasheen, Khan captured the World Mobike Championship in Melbourne, Australia.

Yet, Feroz, who recently bagged the Zee Cine Lifetime Achievement Award, insists that he is ‘an unsung hero’. “I’ve done 54 movies in 47 years. My counterparts have done above 200. But that’s how I work. No cameraman could tell me what is right or wrong on the sets.”

God of glitz
Credit him on the way he ‘glam wrapped’ his heroines, right from Mumtaz, Hema Malini to Sridevi and Dimple Kapadia, he says, “I’ve given vent to how I’d like a woman to be dressed as. When I portrayed sex on screen, it was never vulgar. When the censor board lady objected to the two-minute kiss in Dayavan I asked her, ‘Haven’t you experienced this or else your husband is not a romantic man, ignoring a beautiful lady like you’,” explains Feroz who also shot the most the passionate lovemaking scene in the barn between Anil Kapoor and Dimple in Jaanbaaz.

Romance rapper
Does a woman sway his life? “She’s very important—a necessity. I’ve been a romantic at heart,” says Khan cautioning, “But my relationships are not all about sex. You can’t see the most beautiful woman naked everyday. A woman has her facets, her adas. She should reflect both sensuousness and sincerity. Love is about giving, not expecting—when you expect it goes kaput.” He reminisces softly, “I really loved a girl in my teens. She was of a different nationality. She wanted to get married but I had just started my career then.”

Son-rise
What does he have to say about son Fardeen—the finest looking Khan? “He has become a good actor (Bhoot, No Entry, Heyy Baby) through the past nine years. But yes, he’s not got his three to four concurrent hits. I can’t say he’s not got his due. That would be making excuses. But talent and personality can’t be suppressed,” he says objectively.

Sunset tales
Having led a chequered life, has he ever thought of penning an autobiography? “It would dig out a lot of skeletons,” he laughs. How does he spend his days then? “I hate routines. I don’t even like fixing my return date when I book my ticket. I’m fond of meeting people who know that they don’t know anything! I love my horses, dogs and macaw in my Bangalore farm.” Any regrets? “The tragedy is that nothing lasts. But the sunset is beautiful.”