Amitabh Bachchan , who was the first to reach for condoling after his death recalls that his last words were “Time ho gaya hai, pack up”. It was revealed to him by one close Family Member.
Amitabh recalled his long experience with Rajesh whom he first saw as the winner of the Filmfare-Madhuri Talent Contest. It was the same contest for which Amitabh also applied the following year but was rejected.
“His film ‘Aradhana’ was my next meeting with him, at the Rivoli Theatre in Connaught Place in New Delhi, which my mother took me along to see. The packed audience and their reactions to this young handsome man was impermeable,” wrote Amitabh.
He said he had left his settled job in Calcutta and gone away from home to seek the possibilities of joining the (film) industry in some other way.
“But one look at Rajesh Khanna made me realise that with people like him around, there would be little chance of opportunity for me, in this new profession!” Amitabh confessed.
Later, when Amitabh was called for ‘Saat Hindustani’ and travelled to Mumbai for the role, he developed a close friendship with one of the co-stars in the movie, Anwar Ali.
Anwal Ali’s brother was the illustrious (comedian) Mehmood with his own very large standing and gave Amitabh an opportunity to get an informal meet at one of the shootings of Rajesh Khanna. “…It was a very formal hand shake and that was it; a routine for him, an honour for me!”
Soon after that, Amitabh was cast opposite Rajesh Khanna in “Anand”, which he described was “like a miracle, god’s own blessing and one that gave me reverse respect; the moment that anyone came to know that I was working with the Rajesh Khanna, my importance grew. And I gloated in its wake.”
During breaks in the shooting of “Anand” Amitabh would go to Delhi and gleefully describe the scenes and dialogues of the movie, as also its music to all whom he met.
“There were no CDs then, just the spooled tapes and getting Hrishida (Hrishikesh Mukherjee) to part with one such for me was an exercise in futility. But I was able to get one and ‘Kahin dur jab din dhal jaaye..’ played endlessly on my very repair stricken tape recorder,” Amitabh recalled.
Amitabh said Rajesh Khanna was simple and quiet, would sit in the front seat of his modest Herald, driven by his Man Friday, Kabir.
“He would attract many visitors on set and was continuously surrounded by them, Hrishi-da permitting! The frenzy and the following he garnered was a sight to behold. In the 1970 era his fans came from Spain to meet him and a most unheard of occurrence then,” Amitabh said.
In his trademark Rajesh Khanna kurta-pyjama, he almost always looked the boy next door, one that girls would want to take home to mother, but amidst all this there was a quiet elegance within him, Amitabh added.
“In his boyish plainness there was something that was regal in his demeanor. It was the magnet that attracted others to him – who at times were almost servile to him in nature,” Amitabh said.
I visited his residence ‘Aashirwad’ just once when we were working together, to wish him on his birthday, only to realize when I reached their, that I had come in a day earlier. He was magnanimous enough to understand my awkwardness and asked me to stay back ; then after a while driving me to Shakti Samanta’s ( who made ‘Aaradhana’ and many other films with him, and ‘Great Gambler’ and ‘Barsaat ki ek Raat’ with me ) house to join him for dinner !
The next day on his birthday he hosted me again. Many many years later he had called me to his office to seek the possibility of working for his production, which did not materialize. Then of course my last meeting with him was when IIFA decorated him with a LifeTime Achievement Award and asked me to present it. His gracious words for me still resound.
When the shooting of ‘Anand’ began at Mohan Studios, Hrishi da’s favorite locale, now a concrete housing colony, the one moment that always worried me was, that last scene when I break down after his death and urge him emotionally to speak ! Not being able to find a method in my own very limited acting experience, I sought the help of Mehmood bhai, in who’s house I was living with his brother Anwar Ali. And I still remember what he told me –
He said, †just think Amitabh, R- a- j- e- s- h K- h- a- n- n- a is dead !! and you will get everything right “.
It was not so much a tutorial in acting that he expounded. It was an exalted acknowledgement of Rajesh Khanna’s presence and position in the psyche of the nation, that he was drawing my attention to.
That is how Rajesh Khanna was looked upon from the day he started till his last breath. Times changed, people changed, circumstances changed, but Rajesh Khanna always remained his quiet, elegant, regal self !