April 27 will go down as the date two of the Hindi film screen’s dishiest men left for the pearly gates. While Feroz Khan passed away in 2009, Vinod Khanna died in 2017, a decade later. Both actors were successful stars with a huge fan following – while they left women weak in the knees, every man would try hard to ape their swagger and drawl.

Back in the Seventies, Feroz Khan epitomised the ultimate cool guy with his stylish dressing, fast cars, cowboy hat and boots, sunglasses and sideburns. With his flamboyance and sex appeal, generations of women were charmed by him right from the Sixties onwards. This smooth Pathan played the gorgeous charmer in films like Dharmatma, Qurbani, Jaanbaaz and Yalgaar. A favourite of the leading ladies of his time, they all wanted to star opposite him as he made them look even more sensuous onscreen. He revolutionised the style quotient of the otherwise conventional film hero of the time. Not for nothing was he known as the "Clint Eastwood of Bollywood" for introducing Western cowboy and heist style films.

Recommended Read: “I was branded a womaniser…” The tumultuous love life of Feroz Khan

Similarly, Vinod Khanna also went on to epitomise the hunky he-man, ruthless with the baddies, irresistible to the girls. With his intense eyes and chin cleft, his female fan following was immense.

Both actors died of cancer and their respective families had put a lid on news of their condition till they succumbed quietly. Both Feroz and Vinod had been very close and also made two films together. Feroz Khan’s Qurbani (1980) became one of Vinod's biggest hits. The film saw Khanna overshadowing Khan, who had made the film and was also cast as the hero.

The two actors and friends came together again for Nayakan. When Feroz remade Kamal Haasan's Nayakan in Hindi in 1988, Vinod acted in the film and also bought its distribution rights.

We’d like to think they are both raising the good-looking quotient in heaven right now!