When Dimple Kapadia called Rajesh Khanna ‘too fat and old’ to star opposite Sridevi: ‘He should stick to roles that suit him best’

But she was hardly as kind about her former husband. “He’s too fat and old these days. He’s balding too. How can he afford to do these stupid roles that make him look so silly? He’s a brilliant actor who should stick to the kinds of roles that suit him best,” she added. In the same year, Sridevi admitted to Filmfare that her mother wasn’t pleased with the film. “I thought my performance was ordinary. But everybody has been telling me I was terrific. I am quite surprised with their reaction. My mother however was not pleased. She asked me, ‘Why did you do all those vulgar things?’ I told her, ‘Really, mummy, I didn’t realise that what I was doing was vulgar,” she said.

In an interview with India Today, Dimple opened up about witnessing Rajesh Khanna’s decline from close quarters. “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.

Dimple made a grand debut as a teenager in the film Bobby, but shocked the industry when she announced that she’d be quitting the business after marrying Rajesh, who was twice her age.