Actor Raju Shrestha, also known as Master Raju, who worked with Rajesh Khanna in the 1972 film Bawarchi as a child artist, recently revealed details of a fight between the film’s lead stars, Khanna and Jaya Bachchan (then Jaya Bhaduri). Raju shared that the fight between them started after Khanna said something against Amitabh. Bachchan to Jaya. He also shared several instances of Khanna’s starry tantrums and ego. Rajesh Khanna, often described as India’s first superstar, enjoyed unprecedented success early in his career. However, a series of failures followed and he spent most of his time alone at home, with alcohol for company.
Jaya Bachchan clashed with Rajesh Khanna over Amitabh Bachchan
Talking to Siddharth Kannan, he said, “There was an argument and the shoot was also stopped, I only remember something like this because Bawarchi is a very old film. That fight was about Amitabh Bachchan. Jayaji was Amit Ji’s friend and Amitabh was also close to Rishi Kapoor and was doing a film with him. Rajesh Khanna had his own problem.”
Raju shared that Rajesh Khanna did not like the fact that Amitabh Bachchan was rapidly gaining popularity at that time and was challenging his ‘first superstar’ status. “He didn’t want anyone to replace him and Amitabh Bachchan was bringing a lot of strength. Rajesh Khanna said something against Amitabh Bachchan to Jaya ji and that’s when they fought and the shooting stopped.”
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For the unversed, after the release of Amitabh Bachchan’s Zanjeer in theaters in 1973, the tide began to turn from Rajesh Khanna to Big B. With films like Sholay, Deewar and Namak Haraam, Amitabh replaced Rajesh as the superstar of that era.
Rajesh Khanna refused to come down to meet his son-in-law Akshay Kumar.
Raju shared another example of Khanna’s ego which he reportedly maintained even in front of his family. Recalling an incident involving the late star and his son-in-law, actor Akshay Kumar, he said, “I heard another case about him when Akshay Kumar went to his house to meet him, and Rajesh Khanna was sitting upstairs in a room, and someone informed him that Akshay Kumar had come to meet him. His reaction was, ‘Main uska sasur hoon, woh aayega mere paas, main kyun jaoon (I am his father-in-law, he will come to me, why should I go?)”
Rajesh Khanna refused to acknowledge Raju after years of working with him
Sharing another example of Khanna’s powerful attitude, Raju said, “Rajesh Khanna worked on a serial and I worked in the direction team of that show, so I met him regularly in his office. Still, he refused to recognize me. After a year of working with him, one day, he called me by my name.”
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He added, “I was surprised that he knew my name, and when I asked the director about it, he confirmed that the veteran actor recognizes me, and also often talks about me and how he worked with me when I was a child artist, but Rajesh Khanna never showed this to me. He had that attitude. I don’t know why, but I would think, why should I talk nice to this person or why should I respect him?”
Rajesh would reach the set only after the producer sought him out; Hema Malini kept waiting
Sharing an example of Khanna’s star tantrum and how he would reach the set only if the producer drove all the way to look for him, Raju said, “During the shooting of the film, Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein in China Creek, that area at that time was on the outskirts of Mumbai and there was only one dirt road going to that area. All the actors, including Hema Malini, and I would reach in the morning.”
He added, “Rajesh Khanna was the lead actor of the film, so the producer used to go to his house to look for him. We used to sit and wait for him. Also, we knew if Rajesh Khanna would come to the set by the speed of the car. If the speed is fast, that means Rajesh Khanna is coming behind, and if the speed is slow, that means Khanna will not come today and the producer will bring this bad news, and he is going to declare packing.”