GOING DOWN MEMORY LANE
The venue is the picturesque valley of Kotagiri in Ootacamund where the location shooting of producer-director Sridhar’s Dil E Nadaan is being shot. When the Bombay press men arrive at Ooty, the climax scenes involving Rajesh Khanna and Shatrughan Sinha are being canned by Sridhar. In between shots, Rajesh Khanna and Shatrughan Sinha are gallivanting around like nobody’s business.There is such a camaraderie on the location amongst the two leading men that even Rajesh Khanna tells me in an aside after the day’s shooting was over that it wouldn’t be a surprise if tomorrow we were to be told that he and Shatrughan Sinha are working together in half a dozen films.
Rajesh presents a cheerful countenance. He says he is all set for the release of some of his potential hits like Kudrat, Rajput and Fiffty Fiffty during the course of the next two or three months. “Gone is the bad phase in my life when film after film of mine turned turtle at the box office”, he counters when I broach the topic of his films flopping at the box office. “Join me for drinks at night. Let’s talk”, Rajesh said when I bombard him with several questions at the location, unlike Shatrughan Sinha who volunteers to talk to you even in between the shots. However, one should concede that Rajesh has changed a lot- for the better, unlike in the past, when he used to be tight-lipped in the presence of journalists, he confesses later at night when we descend at his suite at the Savoy Hotel.
At every place, Rajesh has his own suite in his favorite hotel. At Madras, his favorite is his suite No 720 at the Chola Sheraton. At Bombay it is his favorite suite at the Sea Rock Sheraton. At Ooty, though his favorite is Hotel Fernhill Palace where the visiting press is put up by Sridhar, he prefers to stay at the Savoy, as Fernhill has been paralyzed by an eight month long strike as a result of which though the essential services are being held, the telephones are not working for want of manpower.
“Working in a multi-star film doesn’t guarantee you a hit. Today the distributors have taken to this trend to such an extent that it is difficult to make a one hero-one heroine film.”
Talk he did at night over drinks. “I had hopes that Red Rose would turn out to be a big hit”, he says. “It didn’t do as well as was expected, because the audience was not prepared to see the romantic Rajesh Khanna as a maniac who went on a killing spree. In contrast, the public accepted me in Thodisi Bewafaai, as romantic roles are my forte.”
Rajesh is banking right now on his romantic films like Kudrat and Dil E Nadaan, which is in fact a remake of the Tamil hit Ilamai Oonjaladugirathu starring Rajinikant and Kamal Haasan. “Watch out for the Sridhar you saw in Dil Ek Mandir in Dil E Nadaan”, Rajesh says. So involved is Rajesh with the film that he has even gone out of his way to arrange for the dates of his as well as his co-stars for the film, whenever he could spare his dates”, says producer Sundaram.
“The romantic era is not yet over, judged by the success of films like Thodisi Bewafaai, Ek Baar Phir, Noorie etc”, Rajesh says. Quite a few of his films currently on the floors are based on South Indian films which have already proved to be super duper hits in their original languages. In fact, next to Jeetendra, it is Rajesh who is the popular choice of the South Indian producers, D. Rama Naidu being the prominent among them though his last venture Bandish starring Rajesh Khanna did not do well at the box office.“Today I am not just interested in grabbing films. What I need are good meaty roles which need not be the leading roles. Though there was a time, not long ago, when I used to turn down offers to act in multi star films, today, I am game for such films because I have decided not to swim against the tide. It always pays to swim with the tide. Otherwise you will be behind times.”
And just for record, in Kudrat, Rajesh has been pitted with Raaj Kumar, Vinod Khanna, Hema Malini etc and in Rajput his co-stars are Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Hema Malini, Tina Munim and Ranjeeta. In Dil E Nadaan, Rajesh’s co-stars are Shatrughan Sinha, Jaya Prada and Smita Patil. In Dushman Dost he has been teamed with Shatrughan Sinha, Rekha and Reena. In the recently released Aanchal, Rajesh’s co-stars were Amol Palekar, Rekha and Raakhee. Now that he has had reconciliation with his wife Dimple, Rajesh doesn’t want to take any step which may endanger his matrimonial life. Like at the location, he becomes uneasy when a couple of journalists start asking him if rumors linking him to Jaya Prada are true.“I am perhaps the only star who is game to be teamed with any new heroine. In Red Rose, I acted with Poonam Dhillon. I was signed to play the hero opposite her even before the release of Noorie which catapulted her to the top. I acted with Tina in Fiffty Fiffty and in Baayen Haath Ka Khel even before her maiden venture Des Pardes was released.”
“I’ve not forgotten that big actresses like Ashaji, Waheedaji and Sharmilaji had acted with a newcomer like me as they had more confidence in themselves than me.”
“I have acted opposite the maximum number of leading ladies both old and new”, Rajesh continues. “With Shabana I acted in Karm in which Vidya Sinha was also my leading lady. Today after Thodisi Bewafai succeeded we are teamed in quite a few films. I have no inhibitions at all when it comes to being teamed with any new heroine. Unfortunately the press looks at relationships like the one I am having with Jaya Prada who is just my co-star, with jaundiced eyes and rumors start floating in the industry”, he asserts.That Rajesh Khanna is taking renewed interest in his career and is keen on staging a grand come back is evident from the fact that he didn’t give any cause for the producer to grumble on location. None of the by now familiar chamchas was found with him. The only guy he has with him is his makeup man. In fact, he makes use of Shatrughan Sinha’s errand boy for his personal service.
Among the memorable roles he is having at the moment is Zamana in which his co-stars are Rishi Kapoor with whom he has buried his old hatchet and Ranjeeta and Poonam Dhillon. If reports are to be believed even Manmohan Desai and Yash Chopra are planning to do a couple of films with Rajesh Khanna, though they had fallen out with him earlier leading to his subsequent dismal fallout from the ranks of the industry.
Rajesh does have the itch to turn a director. In fact, at the Ooty shooting, Rajesh suggests to Sridhar different ways of interpreting the scene which he is asked to enact. Rajesh improvises every shot of his and at times even insists that Sridhar take another retake since he is not satisfied with the first two or three takes. Rajesh doesn’t admit but then word has already gone round in the industry that he is planning a production starring him and Anita Raj with himself wielding the megaphone.
Have you started accepting multistar films only because your films have started flopping one after the other? I ask Rajesh. “Working in a multi-star film doesn’t guarantee you a sure-fire hit. Was Imaan Dharam a hit ?The fact is today the distributors and the audience have taken to this trend to such an extent that it is difficult to make a one hero-one heroine film. I decided to adapt myself to the changing circumstances by playing the game the way it ought to be played. And luckily for me, every multi starrer that I’m doing today affords me equal scope to reveal my talent. I’m working with Shatrughan Sinha in Dushman Dost, with Dharmendra in Samrat and Vinod Khanna in Rajput (directed by Goldie) and Narendra Bedi’s next film with Dharmendra and Sanjeev Kumar. I do not believe in just footage as an actor, as it is my belief that it is the impact of your role that is more important than the footage. For instance the role of the flower-seller that I played in Anuraag left an indelible impression in the minds of the people more than even the lead role played by Vinod Mehra.”
I ask him whether he has ever analyzed why his films had started flopping one after the other. Pat comes the reply, “ As I look back and think retrospectively, I realize that somewhere I had disappointed my fans and let them down badly, prompting them in turn to boo my films .I have hurt my fans, but I do not know when and where. Once I’m able to satisfy their expectations and make them happy once again, this bad phase will end. Believe it or not, I’m working harder than ever before to regain my place in the industry.”
When asked whether the chamchas are responsible for his downfall, Rajesh says with a poker face, “ I have never had any chamchas. The people who surround me on the sets are my producers who come to discuss their films and fix up my dates .Chamchas can never matter to a star because ,in his heart of hearts, he knows what is exactly happening around him .If you give a good performance, you yourself know how good it is. Chamchas have nothing to do with my success or failure.Also I have always been ready to work with Amitabh or any other star. In fact when Goldie approached Amitabh with an offer to cast him in Rajput, along with Dharmendra and myself ,he agreed to be in the film if and only if I was replaced by Vinod Khanna. But Goldie refused to compromise and cast Vinod in place of Amitabh, because he’d already committed the film to me. From my side, I’ve no rancour against Amitabh. If I had, tell me whether I’d have agreed to sound the clapper for Amitabh’s Desh Premi or attend the mahurat of his film Shakti?”
What made you dare to act opposite new girls like Sulakshana Pandit, Katy Mirza, Padmini Kapila and Zaherra at a time when Dharmendra and Amitabh insist on being paired only with Hema Malini or Rekha to play safe? I ask him gingerly. He shoots back, “I’ve not forgotten the fact that big actresses like Asha Parekh, Waheeda Rehman and Sharmila Tagore had acted opposite a brand newcomer like me in Baharon Ke Sapne, Khamoshi and Aradhana respectively. When they agreed to work opposite me, they had more confidence in themselves than me and undertook the risk. I have confidence in my talent and hence I’m confident of delivering the goods, even if I’m teamed opposite new comers. When I acted opposite Zeenat in Ajnabi, she was a newcomer. Rekha was a new comer when I acted opposite her in Namak Haram .Even today I’m prepared to work with newcomers provided the role suits me”.
