Looks like it's a deliberate move by the IIFA to rope in Zayed Khan, knowing that the Khan family (including the Late. Feroz Khan, Fardeen Khan and Hrithik Roshan) is always known for their fashion and style.
(laughs) You can either say a deliberate move or a smart move. There is a certain comfort I have with the management of IIFA and there is a certain trust they have in me. It's a big event. It's a grand event this year where they want to show off, and we want to take this opportunity and let them show off.
We thought that it's the yellow, pink or the green season with summer almost coming to an end. You're sporting a dapper pine striped lavender jacket with a purple tie and white jeans. You've changed things.
There are these critical fashion fluxes that keep happening every year and you just take that into consideration and you make your own fashion statement as you go.
Yes, it is about pastel colours, it is about cigarette jeans, tapered looks, bondish and fitting stuff. But then you must have the physique and a body for that otherwise it looks terrible. I mean, you and me could carry it off (laughs).
I never really look at the colours. It's a woman thing. Men like the sharp cut in anything they wear and if they get that, just about any colour would do. What I'm wearing now is a Manav Gangwani creation.
Recall you first instance in life when you walked the ramp.
I was terrible in school and college. I was called Pizza face. I was very thin. I was a good sportsman. The only thing I can recall was during my school days when we had a play called 'Aladin' where I played the title role (laughs). That was my first ever time I was on stage. That was really nostalgic.
But I did walk the ramp last year for the IIFA Bangkok for my film Mission Istanbul. But the first time I walked the ramp ever was for my sister Farah Khan for her accessories she had showcased. After that I've walked for many designers like Vikram Phadnis, Manav Gangwani, Rocky S, etc.
You fond of the colour pink?
You know what, Manav wanted me to wear a pink shirt. I said, "Manav, I'm not a homosexual. I'm not going to wear a pink shirt because it's just not me."
He somehow convinced me to wear that shirt and a jacket on top which I wore during my sisters ten year re-union wows and I can't tell you the good reviews I got from the hot babes present for the occasion (laughs). Sorry Mrs Zayed Khan, but you have to appreciate beauty (laughs). As long as I was getting compliments from women, it works for me.
Two of your family members, Hrithik Roshan and wife Suzanne Roshan are going to walk the ramp showcasing Farah, your sisters accessories. What's their style like?
I can just say one thing, "Lucky him to have Suzanne", and he knows that. Duggu knows that Suzanne really helps him out in his style quotient.
Hrithik has got an outstanding body and everything falls in the right place for him when he wears a shirt or jeans or a t-shirt or a suit. He is a very simple guy. Hrithik is not into fashion but he sometimes does it because he has to do it as a celebrity, which we all do.
He is more or less in his chequered shirt, jeans and chappals and that's his quintessential look. But when my sister dresses him up, he looks dapper (laughs).
What about your cousin Fardeen?
Miles apart from Hrithik, I tell you. Hrithik is generally not the person interested in fashion. He does it because it's his job and he does a damn good job of it. But if I had to say who is naturally fashionable and has a flair is Fardeen. If there is somebody I've picked up my fashion tips from, it's Fardeen. If he even wears a watch, he will carry it off with style. That's Fardeen for you.
If there is one fashion guru who got the western influence in the Indian Film Industry, it is the Late Mr Feroz Khan. Do you agree with me?
I totally agree with you. Feroz cha was the quintessential James Bond, Cow Boy, everything. He was a real macho man. If I had to quote him, he once said, "Son, I'm a man amongst men and even better amongst women."
That was his demeanour in life. He would go to the extent of wearing a cow-boy hat with his kurta too. You can't beat his style.
He was the one along with Dev Anand saab who brought the western influence into Bollywood. The whole fun element started coming in after Qurbani released. Before that of course, it was Dev saab too who was responsible to some extent. I think that's where Fardeen got it from.
If you were given a chance to dress up Andre, Viraf and Sabbas, the three Wiz kids, for the big night in Macau, how would you do your job?
Wow! Firstly, Andre and Viraf looked like brothers to me. I even thought that Andre Timmins was a Parsi because he has got those looks. But both of them have always looked good in their suits. Same with Sabbas.
He is the senior most Wiz kid and for that I'll dress up all of them in their black suits with white shirt and a thin white tie with shiny black shoes, and there they will grace the red carpet, the men in black.