Dilip Kumar set a condition to work with Raj Kapoor in Sangam, hurt Raj refused: ‘It’s my baby’

Dilip Kumar had a condition for Raj Kapoor

In a recent interview, actor-director Sachin Pilgaonkar shared this story on Vaibhav Munjal Podcast’s YouTube channel and shared that Raj wanted to make this love triangle with Dilip Kumar and Nargis. Nargis was a frequent collaborator of Raj’s in those days, and he imagined this to be a magnum opus. Raj’s plans included him directing this film, but Dilip asked him to choose one – either acting or direction.

“When Raj ji approached Dilip saab to make Sangam… he wanted to make Sangam with Dilip Kumar and Nargis. That time, the film’s name was Gharonda. Both were very close friends. They actually could not live without each other,” Sachin shared and added, “So when Raj ji approached Yusuf saab (Dilip Kumar), Yusuf saab said, ‘I will definitely do the film but on one condition, either you act in the film or you direct the film. If you are doing both, then I will not do it.”

ALSO READ | Raj Kapoor once ‘hit’ Dilip Kumar on a film set, the boys from Peshawar vowed to never work together again; rivals who ‘hated to see each other fail’

Raj Kapoor was ‘very hurt’ by Dilip Kumar’s condition

Previously, the same story was corroborated by Shammi Kapoor, Raj’s younger brother, as he recalled that Raj was “very hurt” by Dilip’s condition. In a chat with WildFilmsIndia’s YouTube channel, Shammi said that Raj planned to make Gharonda “during Awaara days, but it never happened.”

He recalled that Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor “did not see eye to eye” on the subject. He elaborated, “Yusuf saab said, ‘I don’t mind doing this role and you doing the other role but you get another director for it. I don’t want you to direct it so that the director is fair to both of us. Raj ji felt very hurt about it. He said, ‘It’s my baby. It’s like asking me to get out of the movie. No way’.” Shammi said that a few years later, Raj reimagined the film and since colour films were starting to become the norm by then, he planned to make it as a colour film with Rajendra Kumar and Vyjayanthimala.

Released in 1964, Sangam was a love triangle where Raj played Sundar, who falls in love with Vyjayanthimala’s Radha. But she loves Rajendra Kumar’s Gopal, and he also wants to be with her. Somehow, Radha ends up with Sundar, and Gopal tries to stay out of their way until Sundar starts suspecting his wife of infidelity.

Raj Kapoor’s affair with Vyjayanthimala

It was rumoured that Raj had an affair with Vyjayanthimala during the shoot of the film. Raj’s son, Rishi Kapoor, in his memoir Khullam Khulla, wrote, “I do remember moving into the Natraj Hotel on Marine Drive with my mom during the time Papa was involved with Vyjayanthimala.” He added, “My mother had decided to put her foot down this time. From the hotel, we shifted for two months into an apartment in Chitrakoot. My father had bought the apartment for Mom and us. He did all he could to woo her back, but my mother didn’t give in until he had ended that chapter of his life.”

However, in Vyjayanthimala’s memoir, she denied the affair and said that Raj was “far too enamoured of getting publicity and grab the headlines. And that included the rumours that I was romantically involved with him.” She added, “Obviously, this bit about RK being a womaniser and having affairs was all part of professional tactics, purely a stunt and propaganda.”