I was perhaps the only privileged journalist to have been a guest at Feroz Khan’s Tumkur Road farmhouse in Bangalore. Privileged, because I’m not sure if the flamboyant Pathan entertained too many people from the media in his little heaven.

True to Feroz’s flair for style and scale, it was a lavish affair, predominantly in white with lots of brown wood. There was a sparkling blue swimming pool and a stylish annexe with a billiards table. In flamboyant cowboy style, FK had horses and German Shepherds; typically, his dogs had names like Macho.

Star wives like Gauri Khan may be fashion conscious and sensuous three decades later. But Feroz was one of the first celebrities to flaunt a sexy ex-air hostess called Sundari as his wife. He told me decades ago, when he was still married to Fardeen’s mother, that he was proud to have a sexy wife other people looked at with envy. No burqas or anything remotely religious touched the westernised Khan. In fact, except for a small prayer carpet that adorned his wall, Feroz never wore his religion on his sleeve. It was never an issue when daughter Laila married Rohit Rajpal or when son Fardeen married Natasha.

You have to give him credit for never hiding his flamboyant lifestyle. The women — the younger and sexier the better — were open arm candy. At the same time, long after he had divorced Sundari, Feroz never misused his religion to bring home a string of new wives. In fact, FK never married again or fathered any more children, preferring to be a really great parent to his kids Laila and Fardeen. He stood by Laila when she divorced Rohit (she knew she had her dad’s non-judgmental home to come back to) and he was with Fardeen all through his ups and downs.

His children reciprocated in equal measure. When Feroz was diagnosed with cancer, Fardeen put aside everything else to be with his dad in America. He was by his dad’s side in beloved Bangalore when FK passed away, as was Laila who tended to him till the very last moment.

Feroz lived and loved as he wished. He also died the way he wanted — in the farmhouse and without announcing his disease to all and sundry.

One hopes Fardeen has also inherited his father’s sense of openness. After all, when Fardeen was caught for possession of cocaine, Feroz had addressed the media with his son and come clean, instead of suppressing the truth and cursing the world. Hopefully, Fardeen has picked up the right pointers from his father who lived life king size — and made his own rules.

Parting shot: Do you know that Janbaaz was a title Feroz Khan got from Salim Khan? The two good-looking men who came to Mumbai in the 1950s used to audition for the same roles and each did a bunch of B and C-grade films before Feroz Khan became a star filmmaker and Salim became a celebrity writer.

When the Salim-Javed team broke up, it was Feroz Khan who contacted Salim, took him for a month to London and then to his farm in Bangalore. Salim wrote a script titled Janbaaz for FK which was to be made in English and Hindi. After starting it, Feroz put it on the back burner and made the Anil Kapoor-Dimple starrer Janbaaz instead. The script was different but he retained the title.

By the way, when the IPL games are underway, you can’t get Salim Khan to stir from his place in front of the TV. “If I was asked to go to heaven but was told there’d be no cricket there, I’d leave jannat and come away!” — he says. He has passed on this fondness for the game to second son Arbaaz Khan who makes a fine commentator on the IPL matches.

Salim must pass on his sense of humour too, to his sons. Here’s a fine sample. When Arbaaz was a kid, he swung between two loves — playing cricket and learning singing. One day he asked his father whether he should grow up and become a cricketer or a singer. Salim mulled over it for a few seconds and advised, ‘Become a cricketer.’ Arbaaz glowed thinking his dad had watched his game and seen the potential. But a poker-faced Salim confessed, “Haven'’t seen your game, Arbaaz. But I sure have heard you sing!”

Bharathi S. Pradhan is managing editor of
Movie Mag International