When Farida Jalal said Rajesh Khanna was ‘not easy to work with’ during Aradhana: ‘I used to be very tensed’

Farida Jalal worked with Rajesh Khanna in Aradhana but the actor felt that he wasn't very easy to work with.

New Delhi | June 1, 2023 04:36 PM IST

3 min read

Farida Jalal played a significant role in Rajesh Khanna's Aradhana.

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Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore starrer Aradhana was the biggest hit of 1969. The film also starred Farida Jalal in a significant role as she starred opposite Khanna in the second half of the film. But, her experience of working on Aradhana wasn’t all that great. In an old interview, Farida had once spoken about the talent competition that first provided a platform to both her and Rajesh Khanna, where they were both finalists, but the way his career took off from there was vastly different to her journey.

By the time they started working in Shakti Samantha’s Aradhana, Rajesh had done a few films and was on his way to becoming a superstar but Farida was still seen as a newcomer. “I was very new and young at that time. Rajesh Khanna was on his way to becoming a superstar. There were problems. I think he was not very comfortable working with a newcomer,” she shared in an archival video uploaded by Wild Films India.

She shared that while they became a friendly at the premiere, the shoot was a tense time for her. “I used to be very tensed on the sets with him. He was not very easy to work with,” she said and added “We became friendly during the premiere of Aradhana. I wish we had that rapport when we were shooting. We became friends after the film was over.” When asked if Rajesh remembered that they started their journey from the same talent competition, Farida said that she was the only one who remembered it.

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Rajesh Khanna passed away in 2012 and after his death, Farida told The Times of India that she was shy while filming the romantic song with him. “I can never forget the moments that we spent during the filming of Aradhana. Especially, while shooting for the song Baagon Mein Bahar Hai where I was asked to romance the superstar Rajesh Khanna. I was too young and shy but Kaka made me comfortable. I will always cherish the memories that I have during the shoot. And after the movie became hit we started travelling to different locations to collect awards and trophies. That is the time we became friends,” she said.

Aradhana was the first big hit for Rajesh Khanna, and after this, he delivered 15 consecutive hits between 1969 and 1971.

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