How Feroze Khan Landed His Role in the 1965 Film Arzoo

Trivia from old classic films that are evergreen never fails to intrigue us and we are bringing one for you. This one is almost 60 years old and is about the classic film Arzoo starring Rajendra Kumar, Feroze Khan and Sadhana. The film, which was directed by Ramanand Sagar, was released on January 15, 1965, and was a big blockbuster, turning out to be the fourth highest-grosser film of the year. The movie featured a love triangle, typical in movies of that era, between Rajendra Kumar, Sadhana and Feroze Khan.

However, Rajendra Kumar had the meatier role while Feroze Khan was the second lead in the movie.

There is interesting trivia about the casting of the movie. Many would not know that Feroze Khan was not the original choice of Ramanand Sagar for Arzoo. After casting Rajendra Kumar and Sadhana, he wanted Dharmendra to play the second lead. However, Dharmendra who had already become a bankable leading man by that time did not want to play second fiddle to the hero and hence rejected the offer. When Dharmendra refused, Ramanand Sagar approached Manoj Kumar, but he too was not okay with being the second lead.

This put Ramanand Sagar in a fix as he could not figure out whom to cast in the role. That is when lead actor Rajendra Kumar came to the rescue. When Rajendra went to Madras, he saw Feroze Khan, a relative newcomer at that time, during the shooting of the film Bahurani. Rajendra was impressed with both his looks and acting skills.

Upon returning to Bombay, he proposed Feroze Khan’s name to Ramanand Sagar for the role of the second lead in Arzoo. Ramanand Sagar was sceptical of casting a newcomer in the role but Rajendra convinced him, requesting him to give Feroze Khan a chance. Ramanand Sagar agreed and that is how Feroze Khan landed his role in Arzoo. The movie, which turned out to be a big hit, also gave Feroze’s career a much-needed boost.