FARDEEN KHAN

Ready for round two
There is hope, I say, in the new generation, yet. I met a symbol of hope, last week, at Feroz Khan’s palatial home. I see reason for hope in the dashing, debonair, handsome son of Feroz Khan, Fardeen. He’s educated and more than anything else, one of the most well-behaved stars of the new generation I’ve met in recent times. He speaks like a man way ahead of his times. He speaks about the significance of hard work and honesty, about competition as a positive challenge, and of what it means to be a celebrity’s son...

But it isn’t just his talking that impresses me. In his father Feroz’s building, Fardeen has his own home, with his very own nameplate on the door. He tells me he isn’t quite done with decorating his dream home yet. He’s designed the interiors, himself, though it’s taken up a great deal of his time already. He has done up a part of the home with antiques and quaint, period furniture, all of which speak volumes of his taste, his sophistication and class. He has an ominous-looking dog, who answers to the name of Tiger, who can terrorise the life out of strangers when in the mood. Surprisingly, with me, he’s as well-behaved as Fardeen himself. (“I don’t have to tell him how to behave,” says Fardeen.)

Then, after we’re through, Tiger and Fardeen walk me to the door, and see me to the lift. And the visit’s left a lasting impression on me, for more reasons than one...

Let’s start at the very beginning. Tell us about your childhood as the son of the legendary Feroz Khan.
My doting, affectionate parents, Feroz and Sundari, still argue about who, between them, gave me my name. Fardeen, I think, means the light of religion. I was born at a time when my father, Feroz Khan was at his peak, in a class and style of his own. I was taken care of, meaning I was not given any reason to behave like a spoilt brat. My upbringing, I’m sure, will stand me in good stead throughout life. I was trained to treat life based on strong principles and values, as a caring, responsible citizen. My upbringing has had a lot to do with shaping the essential me.
What about academics? For a star son, we’re told you weren’t a bad student.

You’re right, I wasn’t. I did BCom from Narsee Monjee College, Mumbai. Then I went to the USA, to graduate in business management, a subject I was very fascinated by.

What made you make this big jump from business management to acting, then?
Just when I was about to graduate I realised I wanted to be part of the great Hindi movie bazaar. I felt the urge to direct and produce films. My thoughts took a new direction when I felt it would be a great help if I learned the basics of acting. Acting, I think gives you a better perspective on how the industry works if you are serious about sensible commercial cinema. So I joined four different acting courses, which helped me emerge as an actor who can play any character. The speciality of these courses was that they didn’t train me to become the leading man in a Hindi film. They paid more attention to bringing out the real me. They didn’t just groom me in song and dance and emoting, they made me go through the grind.

What was you father’s instant reaction when you told him you wanted to act?
He was, I think, prepared for it. He seemed very happy. I think a father’s a desire to see his son follow in his footsteps. But he warned me, it wasn’t going to be easy. He told me how insecure and risky life could get as an actor. He asked me to stick to my principles ethics and values, to take life as a positive challenge. He decided he’d make the first film for me and then leave me alone in the jungle to find my own way.

That’s how Prem Aggan started...
Yes, I first joined Kishore Namit Kapoor’s school of acting and learned more about how it was being a leading man in a Hindi films being made in Mumbai. I myself worked very hard on my body, my body language, my language. I also did a course in dancing and some tough fighting which is not even known in this country. It was only when I felt fully satisfied with myself that I told my father I was ready to start. We worked very hard in making Prem Aggan. My father knew how important the film was for me. I had never seen him work so hard at any time in the past. Prem Aggan’s been an exercise in self-improvement. I realised I had to do better next time, to work doubly hard instead of just sulking over the past.

Did you get any offers in between?
Well, believe it or not, I was flooded with offers at one stage I was approached by 48 different filmmakers. They all said I was very good and they wanted me. But I didn’t because I wanted to be Fardeen Khan and not just another handsome face in the crowd. I was willing to wait and make any sacrifices to rise on my own. I always knew I had my father behind me, ever ready to back me up. He even started to work on a script, positively a better one after all the lessons he and I had learned. Then one day at this party...

Which party?
There was a party at which I met Ram Gopal Varma, one of the directors on the list of my favourites. We met and talked, and within minutes he offered me the leading role in Jungle. I couldn’t believe what he was saying but when he repeated the offer, I felt like Tarzan in the jungle, ready to do a yippee in sheer glee.

So you didn’t accept his offer immediately?
No, not immediately. Ram and I had several sessions. We thrashed out every point, every doubt, worked out every possibility, left nothing to doubt or argue during the making of the film. Ram told me he was planning a very different kind of film, a genre he had not tried before. He was planning an adventure-action thriller, based in a jungle, a film which was aimed to keep the audience at the edge of the their seats. He had Sunil Shetty, Urmila Matondkar, Makrand Deshpande and some of the finest actors from the National School of Drama. I found the whole project very fascinating. I was the central character in the story, not just a handsome hero singing songs with the sensuous Urmila. The day I signed the film it was like starting life all over again.

How was it working with a director who wasn’t your father?
Why, even Ram was like a father. He was the father of the film. It was such an exciting experience to work with a genius like him. He knew the minute details and nuances of every scene, every movement, every line in his script. At times I found it difficult to believe that Ram had learned and achieved so much at such a young age. He is easily one of the best directors in the country today, and I’ve had the privilege of working with him.

What’s Jungle all about?
I shouldn’t really be telling you, but I shall give you some clues. It is all about a group out on a safari, who’re held hostage by a group of fugitives who demand the release of one of their men held by Sunil Shetty, a man on the track of the fugitives. Sunil refuses and nerve-chilling, edge of the seat excitement takes over.

What’s been your part in the adventure?
I am part of the adventure all the way. Another interesting thing about me in the film is that I am playing the boy-next-door kind of hero. I am wearing costumes brought from places like Bandra, Dadar and Linking Road. So no trendy, designer-wear for me here. And also, no flying off to places like Switzerland, Australia or South Africa all for the sake of a few songs. We have shot the film on actual locations, in forests. It’s hardly the sort of location you’d expect to see me in.

How was it working with Urmila?
What can I say about her? She is the favourite of the entire unit. Jungle is a very different experience for her and she has always gone out of her way to give the Ram Gopal film the best she can. Another thing, she never made me feel uncomfortable. She was a big heroine and I was doing just my second film, yet she treated me like a big hero. Actually the entire unit of Ram Gopal Varma works only when they are very comfortable with each other. Ram takes his own time till he gets either his artistes or some of his properties right. He doesn’t shoot till he gets them as he wants.

Suddenly there is a lot of competition all around. How do you think you’re going to cope with it all?
I love competition, I’ve loved it right from the time I was a little boy. I don’t believe in negative competition in which you try all kinds of manipulation, but positive competition I always welcome. We stars are products at the end of the day. So the competition is between one product and another. It should never be a competition on a bitter scale, with one trying to pull the other down. I take competition as a challenge. I am aware of the challenges I have to face today. But I take competition as a lesson. I see what others are doing. I see what progress other competitors are making and I learn from them.

And what about the tag, that you are Feroz Khan’s son? Is it sometimes a huge burden to carry?
That’s my greatest challenge if you ask me. I know I will be known as Feroz Khan’s son all my life, or at any rate, until I prove myself. I am proud of being Feroz Khan’s son but I am working very hard to make a place of my own, carve a niche of my own.

Do you think love can be a disturbing factor at this stage in your career?
Love can never be disturbing. Love can never come in the way of anything that’s good or positive. Love is a great inspiration. It is also a great healer when we, sensitive artistes, get hurt very easily. Love today has gone through a drastic change. Our generation, I think, doesn’t believe in the Laila Majnu kind of romance that was once a part of life. Love for our generation has no illusions. Love is good for health (laughs).

So at the end of another day before your second film is to be realased, what’s the feeling within?
I’m anxious, naturally, a little nervous too, because so much depends on this film. Ram asked me for my hundred percent, and I gave it to him, only more. I’ve done my best. Let’s see what comes by way of results. I am prepared to face reality. Nothing can stop me from trying to grow and evolve as an actor. Acting is one art you can never completely master. There’ll always be scope for improvement.

Have you signed any new films lately?
Like I said, I’m flooded with offers. But I have just signed seven good films, all of them by good directors, with good, meaty roles. There are many other tempting offers but I am waiting to walk out of the Jungle first.

PS: His tretment of his maid, Lata, fascinates me. He treats her with respect. The way he says “please” when he asks for anything and “Thank You” at the end fills me with hope, more hope...

Ali Peter John

FARDEEN KHAN Like father, Like son