I felt nervous to work with superstar, Rajesh Khanna: Ramesh Deo

I got the golden opportunity of working with Rajesh Khanna for the first time in Anand. In those days I was a top star in Marathi film industry but was a struggling actor in Hindi film industry.

On the first day, my wife Seema and I were very nervous that we have to work with superstar like Rajesh Khanna. On top of that, in the first shot, I had to abuse him. While I was wondering how to enact the scene, Rajesh Khanna came to me and said, “Aapko dekhne ke liye hum Girgaum ke Irani hotel ke paas khade rehte the (I used to stand near the Irani hotel in Girgaum to get a glimpse of you).”

When I told him that he must be joking, he very seriously told me that when he was a struggling actor, he used to stay in Girgaum. And because he understood Marathi, he knew that I was a star in Marathi film industry. All my fears vanished, after he said that.
After Anand, he treated Seema as his sister and he always used to call me Abe Saale (as in sister’s husband).

During the shooting of Anand, if he used to come late, Hrishida (Hrishikesh Mukherjee) used to get angry with him. But he instead used to tell him that let him finish his scene and then he can get angry with him. Otherwise it will affect the scene. He used to enact the scene so well, that after the scene, Hrishida used to say, “Tumne itna aacha kam kiya hain, tumhe sau gunha maaf (You have worked so well, that all your sins are forgiven).”

Rajesh Khanna was very popular in the young generation in his heydays. Years ago when he met me on the road, he stopped the car, hugged me and said, “Aajkal purane log bahot kum milte hain (These days one rarely meets people of yesteryears).

When I heard the rumour about his death, I went to his bungalow ‘Aashirwad’ and Dimple told me that it’s a rumour. That time I remembered his famous dialogue from Anand, “Zindagi aur maut toh bhagwan ke haath mein hain Jahapanah.”