On the set of ‘Aradhana’, Farida Jalal found her experience with Rajesh Khanna to be challenging. The rise in Khanna’s popularity, which he earned after the film’s success, contributed to this tension. The actress also expressed her frustration with his female fans, revealing that she occasionally felt a strong urge to knock some sense into them.
On The Ashoke Pandit Show,
Farida
acknowledged that Rajesh Khanna enjoyed an outstanding level of fame that few have matched since.
“You have to give that to him,” she said. Despite this recognition, Jalal revealed that their working relationship on ‘Aradhana’ was far from smooth. She recounted an incident where Khanna, having risen to massive stardom, snapped at her request for an extra rehearsal with the remark, “How many rehearsals do you need?” This left her feeling quite unsettled.
Farida praised Sharmila Tagore for consistently supporting her during difficult times. “She would say, ‘What nonsense, how can he talk to her like that?’ She was always on my side, she was a darling,” Jalal recalled. She also noted that director Shakti Samanta agreed to accommodate however many rehearsals she needed. Despite this support, Jalal admitted she was never comfortable with Khanna, feeling that his pridefulness was a significant issue. “I felt he was very proud… He was that kind of person,” she reflected.
Jalal shared that she only grew close to Rajesh after ‘Aradhana’ became a blockbuster and they began touring the country to collect accolades. However, she was increasingly put off by Khanna’s growing fame, which he often flaunted. “I witnessed how girls would fawn over him, asking for autographs on various body parts,” Jalal recounted. “There would be long queues of girls, and I found it appalling. I wanted to beat them. They seemed to have no self-respect, and he would just smirk at me. I was very angry. What kind of girls were they? Even Rinku di (Sharmila) would hang her head in embarrassment.”
Many of Rajesh Khanna’s contemporaries have commented on his behavior on set. Despite his immense success in the 1970s, his career experienced a swift decline. Khanna himself confessed in an interview that he turned to alcohol as his career faltered and struggled to moderate his diminishing fame.
