Veteran actor Farida Jalal, who rose to fame after appearing in the films Aradhana, with Rajesh Khanna, and Gopi, with Dilip Kumar, recalled her contrasting memories of the two superstars. While she found Khanna to be an ‘arrogant’ man who disrespected her on set, she had nothing but kind words to say about Dilip Kumar, whom she considered her brother. In an interview, she recalled how he would show tough love to her, and welled up as she remarked about his decency.
Chatting with Bollywood Bubble about her experiences on Gopi, she said, “I was a hardcore Dilip Kumar fan; him and Meena Kumari both. I still am. He’ll always remain in our hearts. When the offer for Gopi came, I knew that I had to do it. I learned so much from him during Gopi, both as an actor and as a human being. He was the kind of person who would spot an elderly light man drinking tea by himself, and say, ‘Why are you sitting alone?’ He’d go over and share the tea with him, and drink from his saucer. I couldn’t believe this.”
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She continued, “And he didn’t do it to make a fake impression, he didn’t do it for appearances. Some people did that as well. Nobody was looking. Only I was there. That’s who he was. There was nobody else like him. I considered him as my brother.” She recalled how the legendary actor would scold her for not taking care of her appearance, and putting on weight. He would also control her diet, but would realise that he was being cruel and make allowances.
“I still call him ‘bhaijaan’. “He taught me that no matter how successful you become in life, it’s important to keep your feet firmly on the ground. Money will come and go, but the audience’s love and respect is forever,” she said. By contrast, she didn’t have too many positive things to say about Rajesh Khanna. “I would think this man is very proud, very arrogant. When I would ask for rehearsal, he would say ‘How many rehearsals?’ I was a newcomer. I felt very bad. I even said ‘How can you talk to me like that? I can ask for 10 rehearsals if I want’. We fought there, Sharmila ji intervened. She protected me, she would speak in my defence,” she recalled.
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