Prem Chopra recalls Rajesh Khanna’s Lateness to Work

Veteran star Prem Chopra recalled Rajesh Khanna’s habit of reporting late to work.

Prem and Rajesh starred in many films together in the 1970s and 1980s.

Rajesh made his film debut with Aakhri Khat (1966) and hit superstardom with Aradhana (1969).

He starred in 15 consecutive solo hits between 1969 and 1971.

However, despite his fantastic innings at the box office, Rajesh would hardly arrive to set on time.

Divulging this, Prem Chopra said: “Rajesh Khanna was a superstar of the time.

“He must have done 25 films and out of that, 20 were super-hits.

“People were very fond of him because he was a very nice actor but there was something about him that some people didn’t like.

“If it were a 9 am shift, he would show up at 12-12:30 pm.

“Everyone would be ready and in his absence, they would say, ‘Look how everyone is ready and waiting for him’.

“But when he would arrive, they would say, ‘Come, sir, should we start after lunch?’

“He would say, ‘Let’s do it now’.”

Prem added that Rajesh could not cope when his stardom diminished.

Many put this down to the rise of Amitabh Bachchan who hit the big time with films including Zanjeer (1973), Deewaar (1975) and Sholay (1975).

Prem said: “[Rajesh] was a misunderstood man. He was a very nice, emotional fellow.

“He had his problems – I don’t know what those were.

“But then when he lost his superstardom he could not make an adjustment.

“He was a very competent actor and that’s why he survived for such a long time.

“But adjustment is very important in this profession.

“When his superstardom started diminishing, they brought in Amitabh Bachchan.

“Rajesh couldn’t come to terms with that after being a superstar, he’d have to do character roles.”