Raju Shrestha, popularly known as Master Raju, has shared more anecdotes highlighting Rajesh Khanna’s legendary ego, this time involving his son-in-law, actor Akshay Kumar. Recalling an incident from Khanna’s home, Raju said the late superstar maintained his rigid sense of hierarchy even within family circles.
Khanna’s reaction when Akshay came to meet him
Speaking about what he had heard, Raju recounted how Akshay Kumar once visited Rajesh Khanna at his residence. According to him, Khanna chose not to come downstairs to meet the actor. Raju told Siddharth Kannan, “I have heard another instance about him when Akshay Kumar went to his home to meet him, and Rajesh Khanna was sitting upstairs in some room, and somebody informed him that Akshay Kumar has come to meet him. His reaction was, ‘Main uska sasur hoon, woh aayega mere paas, main kyun jaoon (I am his father-in-law, he will come to me, why should I go?)’”Akshay Kumar married Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia’s daughter, Twinkle Khanna, in 2001.
‘He worked with me as a child, still didn’t recognise me’
Raju also recalled how Khanna carried the same attitude at work, even towards people he had previously collaborated with. Sharing his own experience, he said, “Rajesh Khanna worked in a serial, and I worked in the direction team of that show, so I would meet him regularly at his office. Still, he refused to recognise me. After a year of working with him, one day, he called me by my name.”The moment left Raju stunned. “I was surprised that he knows my name, and when I asked the director about it, he confirmed that the veteran actor recognises me, and he also often talks about me and how he has worked with me when I was a child artist, but Rajesh Khanna never showed this to me.”Raju added that Khanna’s behaviour stemmed from a belief system rooted in stardom and authority. “He had this attitude. I don’t know why, but he would think that why should I talk nicely to this person or why should I give him respect?”
Producers fetched him from home, sets waited for his arrival
Sharing another example of Khanna’s starry tantrums, Raju spoke about the actor’s on-set behaviour during the shooting of Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein. “During the shooting of the film, Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein at China Creek, that area at that time was outside Bombay and there was a single dirt track that went to that area. All the actors, including Hema Malini, and myself would reach in the morning.”He added that Rajesh Khanna would arrive only if personally fetched by the producer. “Rajesh Khanna was the lead actor of the film, so producer used to go to his house to fetch him up. We used to keep sitting and waiting for him.”
‘We knew if he was coming by the speed of the car’
Raju revealed that the crew could predict whether the shoot would happen based on the producer’s car speed. “Also, we got to know whether Rajesh Khanna is coming to the set by the speed of the car. If the speed is high, that means that Rajesh Khanna is coming behind, and if the speed is slow that means Khanna is not coming today and the producer is bringing this bad news, and he’s going to declare pack up.”