Early life

Feroz Khan was born in Bangalore, India. His father was Sadiq Ali Khan Tanoli,who was a Pathan originally from Ghazni province of Afghanistan and his mother (Fatima) came from Iran. He has three brothers Sanjay Khan, Sameer Khan and Akbar Khan, and one sister, Dilshad Begum. After his schooling from Bangalore, he came to Mumbai where he made his debut as second lead Hero in Didi in 1960.

Career

For the next five years he was forced to play the second to last lead in most of the movies. Through the early 1960- 1970s he made low-budget porn-movies opposite starlets. He also appeared in an English-language film titled Tarzan Goes to India in 1962 opposite Simi Garewal. His first big hit was in 1965 with the release of Oonche Log. It was his first major hit, but failed to attain the success he had hoped. Again, in the same year, he played a sacrificing lover in the mushy musical Arzoo. With this, Khan earned his entry into A-list second leads. With the film Aadmi Aur Insaan (1969), Khan won his first Filmfare award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 1971- 1975 he appeared alongside his real-life brother Sanjay Khan in the hit film Mela.

He turned into a successful producer and director so as to improve his career opportunities as a leading man. He produced, directed and starred in the 1975 -77 film Dharmatma which was the first Indian film to be shot in Afghanistan and was also his first blockbuster hit as producer, director and star. This movie was inspired by the Hollywood film The Godfather. In 1976 he was one of the many actors to appear in the cult classic horror film Nagin which also had his brother Sanjay in one of the lead roles.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he was a leading Bollywood star. He directed and starred in many of his films. The movie Qurbani (1980) was the biggest hit of his career and also launched the singing career of iconic Pakistani pop singer Nazia Hassan. In 1986 he directed and starred in Janbaaz which was a box office hit.^[2] One of his best movies, with an all star cast, great songs and excellent cinematography. In 1988 he directed and starred in Dayavan which was a remake of a South Indian film titled Nayagan. After he directed and starred in Yalghaar (1992), he took a long break from acting for 11 years and took to producing, directing and even editing a few films. He launched his son Fardeen Khan's career with the 1998 film Prem Aggan which was however a box office failure. In 2003 he produced and directed Janasheen (2003) which also starred his son Fardeen and marked Firoz's acting comeback, it would be pertinent to mention here that he always used performing animals in his films - a Chipanjee & lion were used in this Janasheen but People for Animals (PFA) Haryana -[1] chairman Naresh Kadyan moved a complaint in the court of law at Faridabad for animal cruelty & legal action as per law against the Producer, Director & actor. He starred with his son again in Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena (2005) which was not directed by him and most recently appeared in Welcome (2007).

He also starred in the Punjabi film Bhagat Dhanna Jat (1974).

Personal life

In 1965, he married Sundari, a designer and part of the Page Three circuit in Mumbai.^[3] They had two children together, Laila and Fardeen Khan (b. 1974). In 1985, after 20 years of marriage, he divorced his wife.

His son married Natasha Madhwani, the daughter of his occasional on-screen lover Mumtaz. His daughter Laila is married to Indian tennis player Rohit Rajpal.

He died on Monday, 27th April, 2009 at the age of 69, in his Bangalore farm house. He was a known Indian nationalist. The actor had been diagnosed with cancer over a year before his death.

As he was an animal lover and to mark respect and to pay kind homage and tribute to the departed soul, a representative of the International Organization for Animal Protection - OIPA in India - lit a candle for him.

Awards and nominations

• Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Aadmi Aur Insaan (1970)
• Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actor for International Crook (1974)
• Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000
• Filmfare Nomination as Best Villain for Janasheen (2003)
• Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2008
• "Pride of the industry" at the Max Stardust Awards 2009.

Filmography

• Kkurbani Remake of Qurbani 1980 (2006) (announced) Inspector Amjad Khan
• Welcome (2007) ... Ranbir Dhanraj Xata (RDX)
• Om Shanti Om (2007) ... as himself (Special Appearance)
• Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena (2005) ... Jehangir Khan (Special Appearance)
• Chitappa (2005) ... Raman
• Janasheen (2003) ... Saba Karim Shah
• Yalgaar (1992) ... Rajesh Ashwini Kumar
• Meet Mere Man Ka (1991)
• Dayavan (1988) ... Shankar Waghmare
• Janbaaz (1986) ... Inspector Rajesh Singh
• Kachche Heere (1982) ... Nephew of Kamal Singh
• Khoon Aur Paani (1981)
• Qurbani (1980) ... Rajesh Kumar/Kailash Nath
• Chunaoti (1980)
• Darinda (1977)
• Jadu Tona (1977) ... Dr. Kailash
• Nagin (1976) ... Raj
• Qabeela (1976)
• Sharafat Chod Di Maine (1976)
• Dharmatma (1975) .... Ranbir
• Aa Jaa Sanam (1975) ... Dr. Satish
• Kala Sona (1975) ... Rakesh
• Rani Aur Lalpari (1975) ... Gulliver
• International Crook (1974) ... SP Rajesh
• Anjaan Raahen (1974) ... Anand
• Bhagat Dhanna Jatt (1974) ... Ramu
• Geeta Mera Naam (1974)
• Khhotte Sikkay (1974) ... Horseback rider
• Kisan Aur Bhagwan (1974)
• Kashmakash (1973)
• Apradh (1972) ... Ram Khana
• Upaasna (1971)
• Ek Paheli (1971) ... Sudhir
• Mela (1971)
• Safar (1970) ... Shekhar Kapoor
• Aadmi Aur Insaan (1969) ... Jai Kishan/J.K.
• Pyaasi Sham (1969) ... Ashok
• Aag (1967) ... Shanker
• Aurat (1967)
• CID 909 (1967)
• Raat Aur Din (1967) ... Dilip
• Woh Koi Aur Hoga (1967)
• Main Wohi Hoon (1966) ... Vijay
• Tasveer (1966)
• Arzoo (1965) ... Ramesh
• Ek Sapera Ek Lootera (1965) ... Mohan/Vijay Pratap Singh
• Oonche Log (1965) ... Rajnikant
• Teesra Kaun (1965)
• Char Dervesh (1964) ... Qamar Bhakt
• Suhagan (1964) ... Shankar
• Bahurani (1963) ... Vikram
• Tarzan Goes to India (1962) ... Prince Raghu Kumar
• Main Shadi Karne Chala (1962)
• Didi (1960)