Rajesh Khanna was known to be the biggest superstar of Hindi films in the late 1960s so when his stardom crashed in the 1980s, he was heartbroken. In a recent interview, Mahesh Bhatt recalled meeting Rajesh during his glory days, and meeting him again when he was no longer a star, and reflected how Rajesh was a changed man. In a chat with Pooja Bhatt on her podcast The Pooja Bhatt Show, Mahesh shared that he was assisting director Raj Khosla when he first met the star. Mahesh shared that he had started working with Raj during Do Raaste, which released in 1969, and this was the time when Rajesh Khanna was at his peak. He shared that he would help the star during dubbing late at night but such was his arrogance that he would simply refuse to give another take, in case of an error. “My memory of him was helping him to dub at odd hours of the night. If you asked him for another take, he would say, ‘Go to Dilip Kumar saab on Pali Hill and ask him to do it. I can't do beyond this',” he shared. Dilip Kumar was one of the first superstars of Hindi cinema, and was known for his stellar performances. Mahesh recalled that many years later, when Rajesh had reduced his film appearances after a bad patch at the box office and started his career as a politician, he ran into him again on a flight. Mahesh said that he was sitting next to Rajesh when he respectfully asked the actor about his downfall. “I asked him, ‘When did you realise that you are no longer a superstar?’ He took a pause and he looked at me and he said, 'The day the flowers stopped coming'.” ALSO READ | Rajesh Khanna would get ‘aggressive’ after a few drinks, used to vent out his anger on alleged girlfriend Anita Advani: ‘I used to run to my sister’s place’ Bhatt further shared, “It was like poetry. He went into memory and said, ‘They used to come in trucks, tempos. The house used to get full. One day they didn't come’.” Mahesh Bhatt and Rajesh Khanna never worked together. Rajesh passed away in 2012 at 69.
