Talking with Subhash K Jha, Shehzad Khan focusses on his performance in Andaz Apna Apna, a film he says is very close to his heart.
You did any number of films before and after Andaz Apna Apna (AAA). Yet you are identified with only your character, Bhalla, in AAA. Did your mimicry of your father’s style in that film impede your career?
The answer to your question is that, no, it did not impede my life. It was just a character that I was playing, and I did a lot of other films as myself in my own voice, and it was great fun. But yes, this film became a kind of a, introductory film for me, a launch pad for me. Although I had done Som Mangal Shani, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Purani Haveli, etc. I had also done Abhi Toh Main Jawaan Hoon before that. But this film became a launch pad and became very close to my heart, and it became a cult classic.
What was your reaction when you were first offered this role?
I was very excited to work with Raj Santoshi Sahab and producer Vinay Sinhaji. I did my first film with Vinayji, Abhi Toh Main Jawaan Hoon. It was a video film. He had promised me a good role in his feature film, and he kept his word. And that’s why I was very excited to work in Andaz Apna Apna as Vinod Bhalla.
Your father Ajit Khan had worked in some of the most successful films from Mughal-e-Azam to Zanjeer. Was he a big influence on you?
My father was a very big influence on me and I think he was one of the finest actors and I always idolized him. My father’s relation and my relation was exactly like in Animal what Ranbir Kapoor’s relation was with Anil Kapoor.
Was it tough living in the shadow of such a formidable father?
Since I am his son, I have always been known as Ajit Sahab’s son, and yes, I have lived in his shadow. But I have done a lot of films in my own voice and in my own style, and it’s… since I look like him and though he’s physically not present in this world, but people see him through me, and I think in this industry, no father and son’s resemblance is as close as mine and my father’s. And I am very thankful and grateful to God for that.
Is it true he was upset when you mimicked him in AAA?
My father’s friends told him that your son has done a film in which he has copied your voice. So that’s how he saw Andaz Apna Apna, a couple of scenes of mine from that. And he told me that I shouldn’t have done it. But at the same time, I told him that I was very passionate about my work, and he used to see that I struggled all the way and reached where I and I was still struggling. So he understood because he also struggled a lot in life. Then, after that, he never said anything about it.
