His life story, as it happened

His life story, as it happened

After the successful launch of his autobiography in Mumbai, veteran Bollywood actor and filmmaker Sanjay Khan released The Best Mistakes of my Life in Pune on November 6. The autobiography takes readers into his world of films, family, his near-death accident and much more. A renowned actor, director and producer with a successful career graph in the Hindi film industry, Sanjay Khan delivered multiple hits and starred in over 40 movies. Some of his most loved films include Ek Phool Do Maali, Dhund, Dus Lakh etc. He shares his experience of writing his autobiography with Sakal Times. Excerpts:

What is the story behind your autobiography’s interesting title?
I was asked by the head of Penguin India to write my autobiography, and the two things she asked me was to send her the title and a short synopsis. Once I sent the required material to her, I promptly got a call from her and she said, “Mr Khan, this title is amazing and intriguing. Can you tell me  the meaning behind it?” So I told her that I don’t want to reveal the meaning as yet. As the book unfolds one will get the meaning. Trust me, I have justified the curiosity the title holds.

Before Penguin India approached you, did you ever think of writing an autobiography ?
As a child, I was always approached by my friends for story narrations. When I would narrate, they would be spellbound. I sense that I was blessed with something special, my voice, perhaps, the style of my narration, perhaps, that foreshadowed my career in films. After I became a star, my friends at get togethers, would ask me to tell them stories about the exotic places that I had been to and the people I had met. They would ask me to write down my experiences and the challenges that I faced. One day, Tirath Singh Thakur, former Chief Justice of India and a dear friend, who loved listening to my stories, told me that before I forget the details of my experiences and incidents, I should write a book. So how could I disobey the Supreme Court? Therefore I started my research. Meanwhile, I got a call from Penguin India. So here we are today, the book was destined to be written and now it has been written. 

Once you decided to write, how did your family and friends from the industry react to it?
When I decided to write my autobiography, I knew I had to tell the facts and my life story as it happened. So I gave a careful consideration and thought, and told them that I have decided to do this, and they green signalled my decision. My family is democratic, and they have immense respect for me just like I have for them. And I am glad that they are glad with my decision. 

While you were writing it, you might have re-lived a lot of moments. Is there any such incident that you want to share with us?
There were many gigantic moments as well as challenges and life-threatening situations. Also, being a star, and perhaps my openness and personality have attracted a huge number of people from different walks of life. So I can tell you peripherally that I’ve met the warlords of Iran, they were my fans. I have written a very interesting story on the godfather of drugs in Turkey and how he tracked me down with his friends in Moscow while I was there for a music festival and he invited me to Turkey since he was my fan and what he offered me was very interesting. So these are some really crucial experiences.  

You have mentioned about your horse Prince Khartoum in your book. What interesting details have you shared about him? 
Prince Khartoum was my first horse and I am the luckiest owner. If you check the Guinness World Records and the history of Indian racing, I am the only owner who broke the so called ‘bad luck’. It was believed that after any horse won the Bangalore Derby, he would never win the Blue Ribbon. I broke that record. With Prince Khartoum I won the biggest trophies of India — Bangalore Derby, Indian Derby in Mumbai and the Indian Turf Invitation Cup in Chennai. At the race course, I was considered a wonder kid. One day, the late senior Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia came up to me and looked at my horse and told me, ‘It’s a pity that your horse is not in form’. Scindia said that because a day prior to that Prince Khartoum had lost the race due to bad judgement of the jockey. I told him that we’ll talk about it after the race. Initially, our horses used to compete with each other and we started as rivals in 1970s. But my horse won that day and since then Scindia and I became the best of friends. Prince Khartoum was a champion horse and beautiful details about him is written in the book, and Pune being a racing town, I am sure people will love to read.  

If you get a chance to make your autobiography into a biopic, which actor do you think will perfectly fit into your character?
My son Zayed Khan will be perfect to play my character. We are already working on the script and we are taking the idea of turning this autobiography into a biopic quite seriously and you will know it soon too.

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