If I’d written my book, it would’ve been a best-seller.” It was no empty boast from ex-air hostess and socialite Sundari Khan, wife of late Feroz Khan and mother to Fardeen and Laila Khan. We were chatting at the latter’s art exhibition titled Alchemy of Light, which brought together a bunch of talented artistes. Laila had four gold-themed paintings on the walls, and curator Bina Aziz also displayed her new paintings. The wine-and-cheese preview evening was an elegant Page 3 affair.
Sundari used to be quite a hostess. At one time, Feroz would proudly say, “I want a sexy wife all the men like looking at.” When FK moved on from her, Sundari had referred to her husband’s new girlfriend as the “Grand Central Station”, prompting a legal case against her and the publication that carried her interview. At Laila’s exhibition, Sundari chuckled when recalling those carefree days.
A story on the Juhu Khans will outsell any book on the comparatively bland Bandra Khans —SRK, Salman, Aamir and Saif. Led by Feroz and Sanjay Abbas Khan — whose shenanigans were glossed over in his autobiography — even Akbar, the youngest, dated Ranjeeta Kaur (famous in the 70s as Rishi Kapoor’s heroine in Laila Majnu) and reportedly got abusive with Moon Moon Sen before finally converting and marrying an attractive Sardarni. The Juhu Khans were unfailingly headline material. They had villain Ranjeet for a neighbour whose bungalow is smack next to Sanjay Plaza, and the branches of the Khan family tree extend by marriage to include Hrithik Roshan and Mumtaz.
Ranjeet in his Arab gown with keffiyeh-like headgear, was also at the Bina-Laila exhibition along with Padmini Kolhapure and Poonam Dhillon. But the glitter of the evening dimmed when Asha Bhosle was hospitalised.
Apart from the Kolhapure family that shared the musical genes of Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle, Poonam D was also close to the 92-year-old singer who passed on last Sunday. So close that when a surprise party was thrown for Poonam’s birthday, Ashatai had to be there. They were like family with Poonam’s gynaec-sister Dr Rishma Pai having delivered Ashatai’s grandchildren, including Zanai, the granddaughter who was by her side till the end.
In the many obits written since last Sunday, there have been mild references to the rivalry between the Mangeshkar sisters. However, few would remember that two warring brothers had also chosen sides in the hostility between Lata and Asha. Yash Chopra, who broke away from his older brother’s BR Films, looked up to “Lata Didi” and worked with her even when she was past her prime in Veer Zaara (2004). But it was always Asha Bhosle for BR Films. BR’s preference was not only because of films like Naya Daur and composers like O.P. Nayyar, Ashatai’s one-time mentor and partner. BR’s battle with Lata was over royalty. She was the first singer to insist on a percentage while BR was firm that as a producer, he would not give a share of the royalty to anybody.
Asha, who never minced her words, once remarked at a function where BR and Yash were present, “Ek bhai hai jo poochhta bhi nahi aur ek bada bhai hai jo mere se hi gawata hai.”
The bond extended to Asha tying a rakhi to BR Chopra every year. Large heartedly, she once gave him a rakhi, “With a real solitaire on it,” BR’s daughter-in-law Renu Chopra recalled.
Fittingly, the chart-busting Zindagi ittefaq hai (from BR Films’ Aadmi Aur Insaan and not from their 1969 Ittefaq) would’ve been one of Ashatai’s last songs to be recorded if it had been remixed for Ittefaq 2 (2017) with a few lines in her voice. “But my idea was shot down by the others,” Renu revealed.
Asha Bhosle’s gems for BR included Aage bhi jaane na tu from Waqt (1965), the first ensemble multi-starrer of Hindi cinema. So much of history got cremated on Monday.
Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and an author