I was the first one to call Geeta Kapoor 'Maa': Feroz Khan

Few get fame and name too early in their career. But for some, hard work is the pre-requisite to success, and this is what judge Feroz Khan of Dance India Dance Season 4 has had to go through. In a conversation with Tellychakkar.com he talks about his life from being born and brought up in the slums of Mahim to being the judge on this popular show produced by Esselvision Productions. Talking about DID he said, “When I first received a call from Esselvision Productions they told me that they wanted to audition me for an upcoming dance related show of theirs. So, basically I had no idea about it being DID till I actually reached their office. There I spoke to them at length and gave a screen test too. They were following my work, and hence knew about me. Later they got back to me and told me that I would be on the judging panel of DID 4. I just couldn’t stop smiling after that.” You’ve been in the industry for 18 years now. Don’t you think stardom has hit you a bit late. “I am excited about all of this, though it’s after a long wait. I think you understand the value of things when you begin from scratch.” Scratch? “Yes. This is also one of the reasons why I could connect with most of the non-dancers who came on board. I haven’t been to any school or institute. I learnt it all on my own. I was born in the slums of Mahim. So the surrounding was a mix of member of all communities and this helped me a lot as I would dance in every festival, be it Diwali, Eid, Holi or Ganesh Chaturti. I just enjoyed dancing. I used to also dance on Mithun Da’s (Chakraborty) song ‘I am a disco dancer’. This is when I realized that I wanted to dance. And it just happened,” said the tall man. He further went on to give us the details of his journey, “I used to work for a company that used to send people to birthday parties as mascots to entertain kids. I used to go to birthday parties dressed as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. I used to get to dance a bit as a mascot and I liked it though it used to get difficult to perform with a heavy costume. I was happy there when one fine day someone called me to be a part of Ahmed (Khan) Bhai’s troop. I went there and they liked my look and hired me as their background dancer. I worked with him for six months, but while I was working with them I was also working as a trainee DJ. But then I couldn’t manage both so I skipped DJing.” That’s also when you joined Farah Khan? “Yes, Farah Maa was auditioning hundred dancers for Miss World and that’s when I joined her. That’s when Kuch Kuch Hota Hai happened. Yes Boss was my first film as a background dancer. This was also when I came close to Shah Rukh (Khan) Bhai and he later offered me Ra:One- Dildara. And later came Ma Da Ladla (Dostana) .” Interestingly, Feroz was the first person to call Geeta Kapoor – Geeta “Maa”. “I started calling her Maa while she was still modelling. This was because she used to treat me like a kid. Now, the entire world knows her as Geeta Maa.” In fact, the two people whom the choreographer called up after bagging the show were Farah and Geeta. “I called them up and told them about it and they were really happy for me. In fact Geeta Maa already knew about it. She has been a part of the DID family for long.” Feroz even missed his real brother’s wedding for the show. “I did miss my brother’s wedding as the auditions were going on and I did not want everybody to change their schedule for me. I have got the opportunity to be on DID and I want to give it my hundred percent.” Way to go Feroz!!!