The Best Mistakes Of My Life (Sanjay Khan's Autobiography) Review

Sanjay Khan who is now known mainly for being superstar Hrithik Roshan's ex father-in-law & Suzanne Khan's father was a renowned Bollywood celeb himself in the 60's & the 70's. Late actor Feroz Khan was his brother & Fardeen Khan - who is on a comeback trail is his nephew. Washed out actorZayed Khan is his son. He also had a successful stint on TV. But Bollywood gossip nerds speak about him mainly for his affair with Zeenat Aman & the physical assault incident that took place in the 80's, which is rumored to have permanently damaged her eye. He courted controversy for painting Tipu Sultan as a hero, while the right wing groups in the country think of the king as a villain who terrorized his subjects. These issues are what intrigued us & made us buy Sanjay Khan's autobiography - The Best Mistakes Of My Life. Is the book worth a read? 

Having read biographies of several Bollywood celebs including Rishi Kapoor, Karan Johar, etc I had great expectations from the book & was hoping that it would give me a glimpse into Bollywood in the 60's & 70's. The book was priced at a modest INR 178 on Amazon.

The first few pages were a let down, as Sanjay Khan goes on & on about his good looks. But thankfully his eccentricites are limited to the first few pages. We ended up forgiving him for it, as every Bollywood actor is known to for being self centred & delusional. The first few pages talk about the infamous fire incident on the sets of Tipu Sultan & then take us to his early days while growing up in Bangalore.

He then speaks about his decision to move to Bombay & his stint as an assitant director on the sets of a Hollywood movie. While we were hoping to read about his struggle in landing his Bollywood debut, turns out that he got everything on a silver platter. Maybe the fact that his elder brother - Feroz Khan was an established star by then, played a part in his hassle free entry. He is fairly candid when he speaks about how people close to him profited from his stardom, while he was unaware & as to how a actor turned politician even attacked him inside his home out of spite! Several pages speak in detail about his heydays when he was rolling in hits & his family life. This book reminds us about Bollywood's reach & following across the globe. Even in the 60's & 70's Sanjay Khan claims to have fans across the globe including Turkey, Mauritius, Middle East, etc. One can only imagine the kind of the global fan following that the Khan trio(SRK, Salman, Aamir) must be enjoying today!

Sanjay Khan was an A-lister in the 60's & 70's but his stardom was on the wane in the 80's, which led him to venture into TV production. But he makes it look like it was his own decision & his waning stardom had nothing to do with it. He time & again thanks his wife - Zarine Khan & portrays himself to be a family man who strayed only once - with Zeenat Aman. That controversial episode too is spoken as a scene in a movie. He chooses to deny all the allegations levled against him. There are no mentions of any dalliances with any other heroines apart from Zeenat(which we find hard to believe). He also mentions how an senior actress fell for him & sent her father to force him to marry her! There is also no correlation whatsoever about the book's title & the content.

What is relatively unknown is his close connections with politicians. He was well connected with leaders of Congress party for several decades & speak about it at length. He also mentions his views on leaders from the BJP.

He has mentioned in the detail about the infamous fire accident & his battle to overcome the odds & finish shooting for the magnum opus TV show. 

He expresses regret over not being able to give his son - Zayed Khan a dream debut & hopes to relaunch him! All this three daughters are supposedly very successful in their respective fields.

While the book has some controversial & interesting anecdotes which revolve around international politicians, mafia figures, actors, there is nothing truly scandalous or any information that you are really missing out on. But is a good read nonetheless!    

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