Mahesh Bhatt recalled meeting Rajesh Khanna at the height of his career, noting his arrogance during ‘Do Raaste’. Years later, Bhatt asked the former superstar about his decline, to which Khanna poignantly replied he knew his stardom had faded “the day the flowers stopped coming,” a stark contrast to the truckloads he once received. Mahesh Bhatt recently recalled meeting Rajesh Khanna when he was at the peak of his career and later when he was no longer a star. He noticed how the superstar had changed as a man.
Refusing another take during Do Raaste
The director said he started working with Khanna during Do Raaste (1969), when the star was at his peak. He recalled helping the superstar during late-night dubbing, but the actor’s arrogance meant he often refused to do another take if there was a mistake. Bhatt shared on Pooja Bhatt‘s podcast, “My memory of him was helping him to dub at odd hours of the night. If you asked him for another take, he would say, ‘Go to Dilip Kumar saab on Pali Hill and ask him to do it. I can’t do beyond this’.”
Meeting years later on a flight
Bhatt recalled meeting the actor years later on a flight, after the actor had slowed down in films and started a political career. Sitting next to him, Mahesh politely asked about his decline in stardom. He shared, “I asked him, ‘When did you realise that you are no longer a superstar?’ He took a pause and he looked at me and he said, ‘The day the flowers stopped coming’.”Elaborating further the filmmaker added, “It was like poetry. He went into memory and said, ‘They used to come in trucks, tempos. The house used to get full. One day they didn’t come’.”Unfortunately, Mahesh Bhatt and Rajesh Khanna never got a chance to work together.