Not many people who worked and interacted with the late Rajesh Khanna had kind words to say about his personality or professionalism, but Kamal Haasan came close once. Many years ago, in an interview recalling his early experiences with the superstar, Kamal Haasan narrated the story of how he nearly put Khanna in danger, and got a scolding from Dimple Kapadia because of it. At the time, he said, Khanna would introduce him in Mumbai as ‘this upcoming actor from the South’.
In an interview with Rediff, Kamal Haasan said that unlike everybody else, he refused to address the superstar as ‘Kaka’. “I was willing to call him Bade Bhaiyya or Mr Khanna but not Kaka. We spent many, many hours together,” he said, remembering one of Khanna’s visits to Chennai, during which Kamal arranged for the two of them to go to a movie together.
Also read – ‘Scared’ Dimple Kapadia apologised with folded hands when Rajesh Khanna snapped at her: ‘Ab tum mujhe sikhaogi?’
Bur while they were watching the film, Kamal realised that Khanna probably hadn’t been to a public theatre in years, and that things could get out of hand if the audience recognised him when the lights came on. He enjoyed the film and refused to leave until the end titles. That’s when I panicked. This was Rajesh Khanna, the star of the millennium. If audiences got to know he was present, there would be a stampede and blood on my hands. But Mr Khanna refused to listen and stayed on till the end. The inevitable happened after the show. All hell broke loose, as audiences realised he was there. I became the Rajesh Khanna’s bodyguard and security officer as I took him through the crowd. His shirt was torn but he enjoyed himself thoroughly.”
While Khanna didn’t seem to mind the attention, his wife, Dimple Kapadia, was angry. “She wanted to know what was I thinking when I took him to a public screening. Anything could have happened,” Kamal recalled. He’d worked with Dimple on the film Sagar, directed by Ramesh Sippy.
Kamal Haasan and Dimple Kapadia remained friends even after she split from Khanna in the 80s. By that time, even Kamal’s relationship with the superstar had soured. “I never wanted to be a star. I observed him. Our friendship came to a sorry end at a party in his house where he was less than polite. But my friendship with Dimple is forever,” he said.
Dimple has often spoken about the turmoil that her marriage went through because of Khanna’s dwindling stardom, and his inability to adapt to the times. “It was my first encounter in life with failure,” Dimple told India Today. “When a successful man goes to pieces, his frustration engulfs the entire surroundings. It was a pathetic sight when Rajesh waited at the end of the week for collection figures but the people didn’t have the guts to come and tell him.”
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