Feroze Khan gambled his ‘last shirt to make Qurbani’, says Fardeen Khan: ‘If it had not worked, we would be on streets’

Feroze Khan, who was once among the most popular stars in the Hindi film industry, had to “gamble his last shirt” to make one of his biggest hits, Qurbani. Marking the 42nd anniversary of the film, the late actor’s son Fardeen Khan made the revelation via Twitter, adding that they would have been “on the streets” had the film not worked. (Also read: Feroze Khan believed in living life king size)

Fardeen tweeted on Monday, “42 years since the release of #Qurbani. In FK’s own words, “Son, I had gambled my last shirt making this film. If it hadn’t worked we would’ve been on the street’s”. People today aren’t aware of what it took to make a film back then. Literally blood, sweat and tears.”

Released in 1980, Qurbaani was produced, as well, as directed by Feroze Khan. It featured him alongside actors Vinod Khanna and Zeenat Aman. The film was a hit at the box office, and most of the songs also emerged as chartbusters. These included songs like Laila Main Laila and Aap Jaisa Koi, as well as the romantic number Hum Tumhein Chahte Hain Aise.

In a 2010 interaction with reporters, Fardeen had said that it was his father’s last wish to remake Qurbani. “My father’s last wish was a remake of Qurbani. And now after his death, this project is very close to my heart. I want to give it the best possible opportunity as it is a part of Hindi film history. The least one needs to do is to equal it. I want to give the remake a lot of time. If I can’t make it better, I would like equal it at least,” Fardeen said at a promotional event for his film Dulha Mil Gaya.

After starting his career with Didi in 1960, Feroz Khan went on to star opposite Simi Garewal in Tarzan Goes to India. Soon, he worked in popular films, such as, Admi AurInsaan, Shankar Shambhu and Safar, among many others. He later turned director and producer, and even launched his son, Fardeen Khan with Prem Agan.

When Prem Aggan did not work for Fardeen, Feroz made Janasheen and appeared onscreen in the film, after 11 years. He was last seen in Akshay Kumar-Nana Patekar-Anil Kapoor-starrer comedy, the 2007 film Welcome. He died in 2009 from lung cancer.

Fardeen was last seen in the 2010 film, Dulha Mil Gaya. He is now set to make a comeback with Visfot, based on the 2012 Venezuelan film Rock, Paper and Scissors. It also features Riteish Deshmukh. Fardeen is also likely to begin work on the No Entry sequel.