A full-throttle flashback: Apradh

Feroz Khan’s directorial debut was an early Fl film that put Bollywood in the fast lane

- Poonam Saxena

As Fl: The Movie rocks the box office, I am reminded of a film from over 50 years ago: Bollywood’s first movie to feature professional car-racing, the ritzy 1972 release Apradh.

Feroz Khan's directorial debut, it featured the flamboyant star in the role of a race-car driver. The opening credits consisted of four-and-a-half minutes of real racing footage from Nurburgring, Germany. (Khan is said to have bought the footage from a local TV channel.)

I remember thinking it slightly curious that Khan would choose professional car-racing as the backdrop of his first movie, at a time when there was hardly any public awareness of the sport in India. But then this was an actor known for his cool Western style. He had a personal fondness for leather boots and cowboy hats. The heroines in his films wore miniskirts and short shorts.