There were reports of a scuffle between them back in the late 70s.
Every friendship has its moments of anger, anguish and hurt.
The characters of Jai and Veeru, played by Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra in Sholay, epitomised friendship when it was released and still does. However, if a real-life Bollywood Jodi could be the epitome of true friendship, then the names of Feroze Khan and Vinod Khanna come to our minds. The two late actors used to be best buddies. Theirs was a kinship that endured the test of time in the Tinseltown of India, where relationships garner more attention for hostility than friendship. Intriguingly, both passed away on April 27, eight years apart.
Every friendship has its moments of anger, anguish and hurt and something similar reportedly had occurred between Vinod Khanna and Feroze Khan as well. There were reports of a scuffle between them back in the late 70s. It was during a lavish party that Feroze Khan had thrown for friends from the film industry. Vinod Khanna attended the party along with his first wife Gitanjali. If reports are to be believed, Feroze had gone drunk and under the influence of alcohol, been pestering Geetanjali to have a dance with him, to which she was uncomfortable. When Feroze Khan started pestering too much, Vinod Khanna reportedly got angry and hit his friend, before walking out of the party with his wife.
The next day, not only did Feroze Khan apologise profusely for his behaviour but even cast Vinod Khanna as one of the main leads in his upcoming film Qurbani. Feroze Khan said that he needed an angry young man akin to Amitabh Bachchan for the role and since Amitabh could not allot dates for the film, he was looking for a replacement. Feroze Khan said he found his hero in Vinod Khanna’s outburst.
This is how Vinod Khanna landed his role in Qurbani, which went on to be a huge blockbuster at the box office. It was a massive film in those days and Feroze Khan had a Mercedes car destroyed in an action scene in an era when most Indians had not seen a Mercedes. Qurbani earned Rs 110 crore, a huge amount for a 1980 film.
