Rajeev Khandelwal says Ekta Kapoor was ‘upset’ with him when he quit Kahiin To Hoga, Jeetendra told him he was ‘making a mistake’

Rajeev Khandelwal said he was discouraged from quitting Kahiin To Hoga and his exit upset producer Ekta Kapoor.

New Delhi | July 27, 2024 05:30 PM IST

3 min read

Rajeev Khandelwal was a household name because of his TV show. (Photo: Rajeev Khandelwal/Instagram)

Rajeev Khandelwal became one of the country’s most popular television actors thanks to Ekta Kapoor’s Kahiin To Hoga, but after a few years on that show, he decided that it was time to move on. His decision was met with a lot of opposition, and even Ekta Kapoor, who was considered as the ‘queen of fiction television’ in those days, was quite upset with him. In a recent interview, Rajeev spoke about that phase, and said that most people around him discouraged him from exiting Kahiin To Hoga.

Talking to Siddharth Kannan on his YouTube channel, Rajeev recalled that he was told, “Pagal hai tu? Tu kisse pange le raha hai? (Are you mad? Who are you messing with)” These people were talking about Ekta, who was the most powerful television producer of the time. “It was Ekta, people said why are you messing with Balaji? They said buy a house, make more money,” he recalled.

At this point, Rajeev wondered that the greed could become endless, but he wasn’t really enjoying what he was doing, and that is what mattered to him. “I had bought one house, and I felt that this greed would never end, and it is very, very important to actually enjoy that success because you feel that you deserve it,” he said.

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When asked if Ekta was “upset” with him, Rajeev said, “Obviously.” He continued, “The show was a success for the channel, for everyone, so it was valid that she was upset. It was very justified.” Rajeev said that many people saw this as a “daring” move, but he was actually very “nervous” before taking the leap. Ekta’s father, veteran actor Jeetendra, also spoke to Rajeev and told him that he was making a mistake. “Even Jeetu ji told me, ‘You are making a mistake. Why are you doing it? You are not realising what you are doing’,” he said.

Rajeev said that he just wanted to prove that he wasn’t the “product of just one show,” and was curious to see if he could recreate the success outside of Balaji. “I was very inquisitive to see if I will be able to recreate it on my own. I wanted them to take this channel and this machinery away from me and take me on a smaller channel, which was SAB TV at the time, as it had much lesser rating. That was the reason I did Left Right Left,” he said.

Left Right Left was a huge success for Rajeev, who was recently seen on Disney+ Hotstar’s Showtime.

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