Mahesh Bhatt says recalls Rajesh Khanna’s stardom was unbeatable
Mahesh Bhatt says recalls Rajesh Khanna’s stardom was unbeatable
Veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt in a recent media interaction recounted that Mahesh Bhatt revealed how he got into films and the role Raj Khosla and Vinod Khanna played in his career.
He started his directorial journey after assisting Raj Khosla, and recalled how he met the filmmaker and the films he assisted him on. Amidst the conversation, Bhatt also recalled Rajesh Khanna’s stardom and how Vinod Khanna had an important role to play in the Sadak director’s life.
He said, he was privileged to have met Raj Khosla when he was on the last shoot schedule for film Do Raaste, featuring Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz and filming for the song Tune Kajal Laga Din Mein Raat Hogayi.”
He added that be hadn’t seen a stardom like Rajesh Khanna ever. Nowadays, all stars are benefitting quite a lot by the digital support. Back then, there were just a couple of film magazines, even prints were a few, yet Rajesh Khanna managed to have a never-before-seen stardom.
Coming back to his journey with Raj Khosla, Mahesh Bhatt said, “Later, we made a film Mera Gaon Mera Desh featuring Dharmendra and Vinod Khanna.
The director fondly reminisced latter and said that Vinod Khanna was a great friend and has played a very important role in his life. He has contributed a lot and doesn’s think without him, he would have become the person who I am today.”
Bhatt quickly shifted to the film and said, “We shot for the film (Mera Gaon Mera Desh) in Udaipur. The film’s songs were quite amazing, thanks to Anand Bakshi and Lakshmikanth Pyarelal. So, my journey with Raj Khosla started like this. And after that we even made a film titled Do Chor starring Dharmendra. This film was directed by Raj Khosla’s assistant Padmanabh. He (Raj Khosla) was the producer. The film was shot in Goa. Then I started my journey and my first four films were flops. My journey had finished even before it could take off, and then I stumbled upon Arth.”
Arth was Mahesh Bhatt’s sixth film. The semi-autobiographical film, written by Bhatt about his alleged extramarital relationship with Parveen Babi, received critical acclaim. The film bagged two National Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards.
Later, the director went on to give back-to-back hits like Saaransh, Janam, Sadak and Aashiqui among others, becoming one of the most successful directors of the 80s and 90s.
News Edit K.V.Raman
