Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore in a still from Aradhana. On the occasion of Rajesh Khanna‘s death anniversary, veteran actor Sharmila Tagore has joined hands with Audible to give insights into her working experience with the country’s ‘first superstar’ via the audio book Rajesh Khanna: Ek Tanha Sitara.
Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna had famously worked together in 10 films.
At one point, while talking about his female fan following, the actor said, “There was a long queue of women from nine to ninety outside the studio where we worked. The hysteria was unprecedented. He (Rajesh Khanna) probably didn’t have the attributes that are normally associated with a hero. What he had was a disarming smile, youthful energy and an innate sense of drama and a well-modulated voice which he used to his fullest advantage.”
Sharmila Tagore also spoke about the things that maybe irked her a bit about ‘Kaka’. She said, “Mujh par kaka (Rajesh Khanna) ki jo baat asar karti thi, vo thi unke kaam par der pahuchne ki aadat. Kyunki 9 baje ki shift ke liye Kaka kabhi bhi 12 baje se pehle nahi pahuchte the. Iss liye maine anya abhinetaon ke saath kaam karne ka faisla kiya, bawajood iske ki humari jodi bohot safal hui thi.” (One thing that affected me the most about Kaka was him coming late on set. For a 9 am shift, Kaka never reached before 12 pm. And that’s why I decided to work with other actors despite knowing that our pairing was quite successful.)
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Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna have worked together in films like Aradhana, Safar, Amar Prem, among others.
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