Amol Palekar recalls being ‘fooled’ by Rajesh Khanna: He wanted to show superiority
Actor Amol Palekar revealed how Rajesh Khanna’s insecurities caused tension on the sets during the decline in his career. He reflected on their film shooting and vowed to never belittle his co-stars, calling it unnecessary.
Veteran actor Amol Palekar, now 80, recently shared his experience of working with Hindi cinema’s once-loved superstar, the late Rajesh Khanna. Khanna’s decline into superstardom reportedly led to friction with his co-stars. Reflecting on one such example, Palekar described how Khanna had tried to assert his “superiority” during the shooting of a film.
Speaking to India Today’s sister channel, Lallantop, Amol said, “No actor, especially a superstar like Rajesh Khanna, should underestimate his co-stars. There is no need for that. There will be superstars of care. In our industry, they love to do that.” Say things like, ‘Oh, he ate the scene, he chewed out his co-star’ I call these actors ‘cannibals’.
According to a report in News 18, Amol Palekar was kicked by Rajesh Khanna while he was shooting a scene for Anil Ganguly’s 1980 film Aanchal. When asked about the incident, Palekar avoided mentioning it directly but talked about it indirectly.
“There weren’t even lines in our scene, I didn’t make any sound. And yet, he felt the need to show the world how superior he was to me. By making me smaller, he’s not adding height, right? I kept thinking about it, but I decided one thing at that very moment: I would never let this happen to me. I would never do this to anyone else. Palekar said, “Some actors go through such insecurities when they feel that their time is over.”
The 1980 film Aanchal was the only project in which Amol Palekar and Rajesh Khanna shared the screen.
Earlier, actor Prem Chopra had also talked about Khanna’s downfall. Chopra said, “He (Khanna) tried to maintain his old style, but the audience did not accept it. Those films did not work. He could not face the fact that he was no longer the superstar he was before.” Bollywood destination.
