You must have heard that Sanjay Khan released his autobiography a while ago. If you did not grow up on Sanjay Khan, you must know him through his daughter, Sussanne Khan who was married to Hrithik Roshan. Even if you don’t know him through that, you must have heard of him and what he did to Zeenat Aman.
What Sanjay Khan and his wife Zarine Khan did to Zeenat Aman
So when it was announced that Sanjay has signed up with a publisher to release his autobiography, many wondered whether the ‘incident’ will make an appearance in the book. For years, people have been talking about what he did, so you would think that now is his time to explain what really happened. He could have blacked out and doesn’t remember or he could have been so intoxicated that he doesn’t remember or any other incident where he was not in his right sense of mind to do what he did because no man in his right senses would thrash and beat up a woman in full public view, like he did.
Like everyone else, we waited to see what he will talk about in the book and how he will explain that incident. This is the closest he came to describing it:
In his autobiography, Sanjay creates a parallel account in which he says he has often imagined making a new film after Abdullah, in which he played a prince and Zeenat a princess and in which the lovers part ways in the end.
“In the years since, I’ve often wondered what the ending might be in a more realistic, contemporary story – a film I might make now. Would the princess really watch her prince gallop away and leave her life forever? Would not such a character, who clearly likes to get her own way, want some kind of revenge? In this ‘new’ film, I imagine the princess pursues the prince who has moved on with his life, and has a new love interest. However, he still cares for her and doesn’t want to hurt her.”
Excerpt from Sanjay Khan’s The Best Mistakes of My LifeHe then creates six scenes, where without taking any names, he talks about how the “princess” tries very hard to win over the “prince” who resists her “alluring” ways. The princess then forces her way into a dinner party where the prince and his beloved and friends are present.
She is upset and announces for all the world to hear that he has treated her badly. The prince tries to calm her down, but she is unrelenting. He is stunned and outraged. He retrains himself; the princess rushes out and disappears from his life forever.”
Excerpt from Sanjay Khan’s The Best Mistakes of My LifeThe last scene goes something like this:
“Scene 6: The press has a field day. ‘A prince and a princess in a violent altercation in a posh hotel!’ They add all manner of embellishments to the story in an attempt to destroy the prince’s name.”
Excerpt from Sanjay Khan’s The Best Mistakes of My Life
As it is, a huge launch happened for the book release with lots of famous personalities, who talked about how wonderful Sanjay is. A journalist, who was invited to talk to him about the book, was warned not to say anything regarding Zeenat.
You would think an autobiography titled ‘The Best Mistakes of My Life’ should narrate the mistakes that he did, but come to think of it now, maybe that Zeenat incident was not his best mistake – it was a crime. Everyone else is disappointed and has pointed out the irony in all of this. Some journalists have publicly called him out:
For years now, 38 years to be precise, she has lived with an eye injury, a parting gift from a certain Mr Khan who has now come up with his alleged biography.
It is titled The Best Mistakes Of My Life.
Much the same is true of Sanjay Khan, who has chosen to gloss over his widely-reported and messy relationship of five years with Zeenat Aman which culminated in her being thrashed in full public view at a 5-star hotel.
The incident and the relationship has been completely obliterated from the book. Has Mr Khan forgotten or does he take the readers to be fools?
A very senior and respected actress colleague of Zeenat says, “Of course, it happened (the public beating). And, of course, they were in a relationship. We warned her against it. But if he chooses to not go public about it, then that’s his choice. What happened was between the two of them. We are no one to judge them.”
An outspoken major veteran actor who has worked with both Khan and Aman is embarrassed by what he calls the “tampering of truth.”
“We all know what had happened between Sanjay Khan and Zeenat. I was a first-hand witness to it. First of all, anyone, who raises his hand on a woman and that too so brutally that she is scarred for life, should be in jail, not writing his self-glorifying fairytale biography. And secondly, if you were brazen enough to humiliate and hurt a lady in public, why are you shy of admitting it now? This is as bad as the film Sanju which completely whitewashed Sanjay Dutt’s image,” says the irrepressible actor.
Perhaps while writing The Best Mistakes Of My Life, Sanjay Khan forgot his biggest mistake: being in a very public relationship and then pretending that it never happened.
Shobha De, who is friends with Zeenat, recalled the incident in her book that was released in 2015.
So, if other people remembered about the incident and wrote about it in their books, why couldn’t Sanjay do it? Hopefully, the second part of the book will come out next year and fingers-crossed, it will be titled ‘The Worst Actions of My Life’.
You know what we find the most ironic? The same man, who cheated on his wife, went on to call himself “a loyal husband”. He must truly have ghajini because it is impossible for a man to lie this much when everyone else knows the truth:
I’ve always followed a principle: Never cross the line. Of course there were many beautiful women who would vie for me and try to get into my orbit, but I would not senselessly cheapen myself by falling into their hands… I always thought that if I ever went and slept with another woman, what would my children and my wife say…? I may have insulted many a lady by not giving them the right attention, so I apologise for that through your columns. – Sanjay Khan
To this, Zeenat said (through a friend):
Zeenat’s close friend says that the actress laughed so hard when she read the mighty faithful Khan’s pearls of wisdom that her eyes filled up with tears — even the one that Khan slapped so hard that it has only ever opened partially since that day.
He also went on to give a lecture about hypocrisy and the value of a good family.
The value of friendships among the current reigning lot pains me. It is superficial. It’s just to show courtesy. The extra hugs and the taps on the back, you can smell hypocrisy from one mile away, that they don’t have anything in common.
The moment they turn around, they backbite. This is a downside of the film industry. In those days we could say it was like this too but it had elegance, some class, respect. Now there is naked aggression. – Sanjay Khan
True. Friendships in the film industry were really strong back then, so strong that all of your peers stood by and watched you beat the crap out of a woman, who was also their colleague! Should the same thing happen today, will anyone step up and stop it?
It is sad and unfortunate. The institution of marriage is being eroded and isn’t celebrated as it was in the earlier days when it was ’till death do us part’. My personal advice to all youngsters who get married would be to do their best to make it work. When we could do it in our times, why can’t you? – Sanjay Khan
One word: doormats. Two words: Dependent doormats! And that’s what your daughter didn’t want to be!
Do not be distracted. See the value of a home life, see the value of a good family. Don’t think frivolously and while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. – Sanjay Khan
Yes, Khan saab. True dat! You should know better about drugs considering how your family heavily dabbed in it or might still be in it. How have you made your money all these years?
Then, he narrated the incident that changed his life. Notice how he goes into the details so that you sympathise with his situation:
I’ve gone through five life threatening circumstances in a major way — one of them is a fire, the other one is a helicopter crash, another is a knife attack on me, while yet another is when my ship nearly sank in the Indian ocean off the coast of Mauritius. All these things have been interestingly captured in my book.
My survival itself was rare – trauma with third degree burns, 73 surgeries, I was called ‘The Miracle Man’. But I knew I must work, otherwise I would die. – Sanjay Khan
Wait, “Miracle Man”? Is this what they used to call Karma back in the day?
He sounds a bit full of himself, but then actors are usually like this so it’s no surprise that he thought he could do what he wants:
My life has been a giant explosion: very exciting and vibrant. Even as a child, I sensed there was something special about me, but I could have never anticipated the adulation, the fame, the fortune I’d earn. I saw the high rise in my career: I’m a star of many blockbusters, which are remembered even today. I’ve written, directed, produced and acted in more than three major motion pictures, and I’ve made many monumental mega TV series. Combine that with my proximity to kings, prime ministers, presidents, world leaders, warlords, cocaine kings and mafia dons, and you’ll see my life has been filled with so much…- Sanjay Khan
What? Then how come we don’t remember any films of his?! Maybe we have ghajini!
You know what? We know it’s a bit rude and harsh to say all this about an old man, but the thing is, every time we see Zeenat Aman, we think about that incident. It’s hard not to because once you have read what happened to her, it’s impossible to remove that image from your head. That image of him thrashing her and hitting her face with his boot.
Zeenat, who had to return to Lonavala, wished to settle her dates with him without making a scene. Little did she know what would happen next. Apparently, Sanjay took her to the adjoining room and “let loose his animal wrath.” He beat her up, dragging her by her hair and continuing to thrash her every time she fell.
He did not give Zeenat a second to speak. He exhausted the vocabulary of smut on her. He used the most vulgar of abuse, called her a whore, a bitch. Accused her of sleeping (to put it mildly) with his brother Feroz Khan amongst several other men. If he had just slapped her hard a few times, one could have excused him. But what followed was one of the most brutal bash-ups any hotel staff could have witnessed. He hit her. She fell, he lifted her by her hair and hit her again. And again and again. One could only hear her wails. Flory (her hairdresser) fought her way through the barrier of guests and entered the adjoining room. Sanjay lifted her by the neck and flung her out.”
It was at this point that Zarine entered and began cheering her husband on. “Give the bitch what she deserves,” she shouted, as she started attacking Zeenat as well.
All the guests knew what was happening; yet no one helped her. It was the steward who came to Zeenat’s rescue, who by now had blood and tears streaming down her face. Even as she required eight days of medical attention to recover from this beating, she did not report Sanjay to the police, as she was still in love with him. – CineBlitz, 1980
He has taken advantage of the fact that she didn’t speak about it, so he feels he can just lie and pretend nothing happened.
There are a lot of incidents that I could have put in the book, but I didn’t want to overload it and make it 500 pages long and tedious to read. So, I picked the essentials. – Sanjay Khan
Zeenat Aman read all of these promotions that he was doing for his book. She said, through a friend:
Talking about the incident that nearly cost Zeenat an eye, a close friend of the actress says, “Her eye was not the most precious loss she suffered that fateful evening when Sanjay Khan decided to prove his mardaangi. Any woman who is subjected to such public humiliation bears the scars for life. Zeenat has never forgotten the ugly incident, even though Sanjay Khan seems to have forgotten all about it.”
The least Sanjay Khan could have done was to apologise. But when he doesn’t even remember doing what he did, how could he? How could he apologise for something that he never did, according to him! He might be an old man today, but that doesn’t excuse what he did. See, you pay for all of your actions – the good and the bad! Heard that the consequences are worst for those who hurt children, women and animals.
Zeenat once said the following for victims in abusive relationships:
It’s inexcusable and a punishable crime. There is nothing further to say about it. The victim in an abusive relationship has to speak up. She needs to tell someone in the family or an authority in the family about it. If that doesn’t work, she must seek social counsellors or someone who can intervene. Unless your voice is heard, no one will be able to help you. – Zeenat Aman
Hats off to the bravery and courage of these people at CineBlitz Magazine, who told that story like it happened and that too, without any fear!