There was a time then Rajesh Khanna Be not just a star but a national obsession. At the end of the 1960s and early 1970s, he ruled with a hysteria that never witnessed before at Hindi cinema. But like all meteoric climbs, Hans also came with an inevitable case. Mahesh Bhatt Recently, how he witnessed both shades of legend, the motionless superstar and the man who came to terms with Fading Glory.
The arrogance of success
Bhatt told his daughter Pooja Bhatt At her podcast, Pooja Bhatt shows that he first met Rajesh Khanna while he helped Raj Khosla during Doas (1969). “My memory of him helped him dubbing on odd hours at night. If you asked him for a new take, he would say: ‘Go to Dilip Kumar Saab at Pali Hill and asks him to do it. I can’t do beyond this, “reminded Bhatt.It was a narrative comment from a man who knew his grip on the audience was steadfast. Flowers, fan letters, crowds outside his bungalow, frenzy was relentless.
The step for count
Years later, long after the cashier became unfriendly and politics became his new scene, Bhatt bumped into Khanna again on a flight. This time, the superstar was abolished from his aura, almost philosophical. Bhatt asked him gently, when did you realize that you were no longer a superstar?Khanna’s response was pervasive in its simplicity. “The day the flowers stopped coming.” He then explained, “they used to come in trucks, Tempos. The house used to be full. One day they didn’t come.”For Mahesh Bhatt, the single line summarized the increase and case of an icon. Rajesh Khanna never worked with Bhatt in her career. But the volatile conversation perhaps told the filmmaker more about the man than any cooperation could. Khanna died in 2012 at the age of 69.
