Mumtaz says friendship with Feroz was platonic: ‘Every woman was physically attracted’

Feroz Khan and Mumtaz shared a close friendship through the years. The actress did her first and only ever bikini scene for his film ‘Apraadh’. They also did films like ‘Aadmii Aur Insaan’, ‘Mela’, ‘Upaasna’ together. In a recent interview, Mumtaz spoke about her bonding with the late actor and also clarified that there was no romance between them, though they were very close. She also confessed that there was no woman who wouldn’t be physically attracted to Feroz Khan because he was so handsome, but they were not close physically. She said during a chat with Vickey Lalwani, “Feroz Khan always used to be fond of me. But unki girlfriend thi so we were not close physically. He was one of the most handsome guys in our film industry. Aaj bhi unki barabari mein koi nai hai. Feroz ko jab se jaanti hu tabse jab se unki shadi nai hui thi. He had an Anglo-Indian girlfriend. He was very close to her. I know him since then. But I don’t know why he didn’t marry her.” She further added, “You may wonder, itna khubsurat hero tha toh Mumtaz ko offer kiya ya nai. Aisi duniya ki koi aurat nai hogi joh Feroz Khan ko dekhke attract na ho physically. He was a good looking man. But joh khoobsurat aadmi hai ya aurat hai, that doesn’t mean you have to have an affair. We both were Muslims, from Irani family. We were very good friends. I’m still good friends with his younger brother Akbar. (He was so good looking, there’s not a single woman who would see him and not get physically attracted. But when someone is good looking, it doesn’t mean you have an affair. He already had a girlfriend).” In 1971, Mumtaz left the industry and married a Gujarati businessman Mayur Madhvani. Interestingly, Feroz and Mumtaz continued to remain such good friends that eventually, years later, her daughter Natasha got married to his son Fardeen Khan. In the same interview, she revealed that Fardeen and Natasha’s union was an arranged marriage, not love marriage.