Mahesh Bhatt says Rajesh Khanna’s stardom was unbeatable, credits his career to Vinod Khanna: ‘Without him, I don’t think…’

“I had not seen a stardom like Rajesh Khanna ever. Nowadays, all stars are benefitting quite a lot by the digital support. Back then, there were just a couple of film magazines, even prints were a few, yet Rajesh Khanna managed to have a never-before-seen stardom,” he added.

Coming back to his journey with Raj Khosla, Mahesh Bhatt said, “Later, we made a film Mera Gaon Mera Desh starring Dharmendra and Vinod Khanna.”

The director fondly remembered the latter and said, “Vinod Khanna was a great friend. He has played a very important role in my life. He has contributed a lot. I don’t think without him, I would have become the person who I am today.”

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Bhatt quickly shifted to the film and said, “We shot for the film (Mera Gaon Mera Desh) in Udaipur. The film’s songs were quite amazing, thanks to Anand Bakshi and Lakshmikanth Pyarelal. So, my journey with Raj Khosla started like this. And after that we even made a film titled Do Chor starring Dharmendra. This film was directed by Raj Khosla’s assistant Padmanabh. He (Raj Khosla) was the producer. The film was shot in Goa. Then I started my journey and my first four films were flops. My journey had finished even before it could take off, and then I stumbled upon Arth.”

Arth was Mahesh Bhatt’s sixth film. The semi-autobiographical film, written by Bhatt about his alleged extramarital relationship with Parveen Babi, received critical acclaim. The film bagged two National Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards.

Later, Bhatt went on to give back-to-back hits like Saaransh, Janam, Sadak and Aashiqui among others, becoming one of the most successful directors of the 80s and 90s.