Rajesh Khanna led his wedding baraat past ex-girlfriend Anju Mahendru’s house; made her end engagement with cricketer Garry Sobers

Anju and Rajesh were both struggling at the same time and she had, in fact, appeared in a few small roles in films before him, the most notable being Dev Anand’s Jewel Thief. By this time, Rajesh Khanna appeared in a talent contest, and eventually won, and was waiting for his big break. The two were present for each other and supported each other in their struggles. Since they had known each other before they ever got famous, she lovingly called him Justin, and he addressed her as Nikki.

Rajesh Khanna and Anju Mahendru in Bandhan. (Photo: Express Archives)

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Rajesh Khanna’s mother wasn’t fond of Anju Mahendru

Rajesh was on the cusp of stardom when he worked with Anju in a film called Bandhan. While the two were a couple in real-life, here, Rajesh was starring opposite Mumtaz. Since Rajesh and Anju’s relationship was always going through major ups and downs, the set of Bandhan was no different. He later told Bhawana Somaya in an interview, “The two of us had a fight over something as a result of which both of us behaved extremely unprofessionally while shooting together. Every time I said my lines, she looked in the opposite direction, and every time she said her dialogues, I looked away. This continued throughout the schedule and the hassled producer was utterly confused as to what was happening and why. Nor did we, frankly. For, if we did, we wouldn’t have behaved in so juvenile fashion. I know it all sounds foolish, but one cannot disassociate an incident from one’s life, just because it was foolish or childish.” It almost sounds like the two of them had no idea about the business or the economics of the business as they were completely consumed by their relationship. By this time, the two had been together for five years but their relationship was still going through its teething phase.

After gaining some success, Rajesh had bought his bungalow Aashirvaad, and while Anju did not move in with him, she was a constant presence in the house. So much so that his staff believed that she would eventually marry him and would become their ‘memsaab’. In Yasser Usman’s Rajesh Khanna: The Untold Story of India’s First Superstar, his staff member Prashant Roy shared, “Anju memsaab used to look after the entire bungalow. If there was any party or function, it used to be under her supervision. Although Chaaiji (Rajesh’s mother) wasn’t overtly fond of her. She was very modern… All of us at Aashirwad thought that sooner or later Kakaji would marry her and she would be our boss.” But, this did not happen, as their relationship crumbled in the next couple of years.

When Anju Mahendru got engaged to Garry Sobers amid relationship with Rajesh Khanna. (Photo: Express Archives)

Anju Mahendru got engaged to a cricketer during her on again-off again relationship with Rajesh Khanna

At one point, their on again-off again relationship reached a point where Anju got engaged to cricketer Gary Sobers. “To tell you the truth, at that time I was in a relationship with Kaka. We had a fight over something and then I had an affair with Gary. But it doesn’t mean that I disliked Gary Sobers. I don’t know what would have happened if Rajesh Khanna hadn’t come back in my life. I called up Gary from Kaka’s home and broke off the engagement,” she told The Times of India many years later. During this phase, as per her own admission, Rajesh had grown “suspicious” Anju and would want to track her whereabouts at all hours.

“All he wanted me to do was wait, wait, wait for him,” she later told Stardust and added that he did not like that her friends were always around her and demanded their privacy. “He said there was never any privacy for us. What about his yes-men who were always hanging around when I went to meet him? So often I pleaded with him that I didn’t like his chamchas, that at least when I went over to him, he could have the courtesy to keep them away. But, no, they were always there. He needed them,” she said in the same chat.

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Rajesh Khanna demanded Anju Mahendru to ‘sacrifice’ her career

Whilst all of this was happening, Kaka was delivering back to back hits at the cinemas, and Anju’s career was yet to take off in the movies but she was doing surprisingly well as a model. Rajesh wanted her to give up her career when she was getting paid really well. In the 1973 Stardust interview, Anju accused Rajesh of sabotaging her career and said that he did not want her films to get released so she could be dedicated to him, and not be distracted by her career. And since he had enough power in the industry, she believed that he could pull it off successfully. Rajesh, who famously wanted a ‘housewife’ as a partner, admitted in the same chat that he wanted a “non-working wife” and questioned her career. “What career did she sacrifice for me? Those two-bit roles like [in] Jewel Thief? Where would have those stray roles taken her?” he said.

Anju believed that Rajesh wanted her to “fuss over him” like his fans and realised that as he became more successful, he became “increasingly difficult”. In fact, such was his position in the industry that Anju found him to be a “nervous wreck.” Rajesh believed that she was “never around” when he needed her support and in a later chat with Bunny Reuben, he recalled the incident that marked the end of their relationship. “A love affair always breaks inside the heart first. I trace the break between Anju and myself to one fateful night when I was down in the dumps. I saw her go out of my house intent on the fine time she was to have at that party. I think it was at that moment that my love walked out on her, too,” he said.

Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia got married in 1973. (Photo: Express Archives)

Dimple Kapdia addressed Rajesh Khanna as ‘uncle’

It was during this time that Dimple came into Rajesh’s life and Anju remembered how Dimple would first address her as Anju aunty and him as Rajesh uncle, but everything changed as soon as their relationship started. She told Stardust, “Dimple is a clever little girl. When Rajesh and I met her for the first time, we were Rajesh ‘uncle’ and Anju ‘aunty’ to her. She was nice then. In recent times I noticed a change in her. She was always saying things which appeared innocent, but were very calculatedly catty and aimed at me.”

As per Yasser’s book, Anju once got a hint that Rajesh was throwing a party for Dimple in Khandala and she wanted to catch him red-handed, but his staff gave him a heads up and she came back with no proof to show for her suspicions. Nevertheless, Anju decided to break-up with him once again, and returned his personal belongings. Rajesh saw this as an “insult to my dignity”. In a 1991 chat, however, when enough time had passed, Rajesh said that the break up wasn’t anyone’s fault and they should have had a civil conversation about it, which they did not.

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Rajesh Khanna’s wedding baraat crossed Anju Mahendru’s house

So when Rajesh decided to marry Dimple in 1973, his peers and fans were shocked. Rajesh was probably still recovering from his failed relationship with Anju and in a bid to show that he had moved on, he ordered his wedding baraat to cross Anju’s house.

Years later, when Rajesh and Dimple were separated, Rajesh extended an olive branch towards Anju and the two became friendly after 17 years of being apart. She told Bhawana Somaya, “When we spoke to each other for the first time after almost 17 years, I admit that both of us felt a bit awkward. I didn’t call him Jatin as I used to in the past and he didn’t call me Nikki. I didn’t call him Kaka either. It would have been too filmi,” she said.

Rajesh Khanna and Anju Mahendru never rekindled their romantic relationship, but she was by his side, along with his wife Dimple and daughters, whn he passed away in 2012 at 69. Anju never married.