The name ‘Arjun’ went on to give me everything that I dreamed of: Firoz Khan

Actor Firoz Khan reminisces about the time when producers confused him with Feroz Khan - the Qurbani actor

With Mahabharat re-running on DD Bharati and grabbing a lot of eyeballs, actor Firoz Khan who’s known by the moniker Arjun, is on cloud nine. “It’s a proud moment to watch Mahabharat with the present generation. It’s a good opportunity for them to know more about their culture,” he says. Happy with the viewership that it has been garnering, he says, “Mahabharat was a game-changer for Indian television. It impacted people’s lives. Due to the lockdown, everyone is at home and they’re glued to their television sets to watch epics like Mahabharat and Ramayan. Even my grandchildren are watching it and they’re amused to see me shooting arrows (laughs).”

Actor Firoz Khan

He fondly reminisces about the time when he walked into BR Chopra’s office to audition for his part in the show. “I went in and saw actors like Deepak Parashar, Raj Babbar and Govinda, among others there. The auditions for Mahabharat were going on and Govinda told me to give it a shot. I was given two pages of dialogues in Hindi. I told him to read out the lines in Hindi so that I could rewrite them in English,” he shares.

He believes he was destined to play Arjun even though the part was supposed to be essayed by Jackie Shroff initially. “A week after when I didn’t get a call back, I went to his office. I was asked to wear my costumes and a moustache. I went up to Chopra saab’s cabin in the first floor and he was sitting their along with our writers, Dr Rahi Masoom Raza and Pandit Narendra Sharma and they told me that I’ve been locked to play Arjun,” he narrates.

Talking about how Mahabharat opened doors for him professionally, he says, “It gave my career a lot of mileage. Whenever I used to call up a producer, they would think that I’m Feroz Khan. When I would explain to them who I was, they would ask me to call back later and I felt insulted. Chopra saab and Dr Raza recommended me that Arjun should be my new name. It went on to give me everything that I dreamed of. And even my mother began to address me as Arjun eventually.”