‘Nobody was there for Rajesh Khanna’: Mushtaq Khan recalls working with late actor in his last years

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“I worked with the same Rajesh Khanna a few years before he passed away in a film called Do Dilon Ke Khel Mein. It was totally different. Nobody was there, nobody. This is life, this is (film) industry and you have to accept it. This is the same with everyone,” he shared.

Rajesh Khanna was one of the biggest superstars in the country in the late 1960s and early 1970s. At one point, he had the record of starring in 15 consecutive hits. However, as Amitabh Bachchan gained the top spot in the mid-1970s, Rajesh’s stardom took a hit. The actor could not regain that level of stardom again in his career.

In an earlier chat with India Today, Rajesh’s wife Dimple Kapadia spoke about the toll that failure took on the actor. “When a successful man goes to pieces, his frustration engulfs the entire surroundings. It was a pathetic sight when Rajesh waited at the end of the week for collection figures but the people didn’t have the guts to come and tell him,” she said.

Rajesh Khanna passed away in 2012.