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Veteran actor-filmmaker Amol Palekar recently opened up about his experience of working with the late Rajesh Khanna, the first superstar of Indian cinema. In an interview with The Lallantop, Palekar revealed that his time on the sets of the 1980 film Aanchal was marked by uncomfortable moments, stemming from what he described as Khanna’s insecurities.
Amol Palekar recalls Rajesh Khanna ‘belittling’ him during Aanchal shoot: “He felt the need to show the world how superior he is to me”
‘No Need to Belittle Co-Stars’
Reflecting on a particular scene they shot together, Palekar said, “No actor, especially a superstar like Rajesh Khanna, should belittle their co-stars. There is no need. You’ll be a superstar regardless. In our industry, they like to say things like, ‘Oh, he ate the scene up, he chewed out his co-star.’ I call these actors ‘cannibals.’ I’m not like them.”
He continued, “I didn’t even have lines in our scene, I didn’t make a sound. And yet, he felt the need to show the world how superior he is to me. By belittling me, he’s not gaining stature, is he? I kept thinking about this, but I decided on one thing at that moment. I would never let this happen to me. I will never do this to anyone else.”
A Superstar’s Fall from Grace
Palekar suggested that Khanna’s frustrations, stemming from his declining career, could have been a factor in his behavior. “Some actors go through such insecurities when they sense that their time is up,” he remarked.
Once celebrated as the heartthrob of millions, Rajesh Khanna’s career began to wane after a decade of unparalleled success. His inability to handle this downturn has been discussed by several contemporaries. Farida Jalal, in June this year, recalled working with late veteran Bollywood star Rajesh Khanna in the 1969 film Aradhana. During a chat with Bollywood Bubble, she shared that Khanna was “arrogant” on the film’s set and would not do rehearsals with her.
Also Read: 35 Years of Parinda: When Nana Patekar bashed up Vidhu Vinod Chopra that almost cost him a role in Amol Palekar’s next
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