#Throwback: Rajesh Khanna Revealed Having Lost A Role In A LEADING MOVIE Because Of Rishi Kapoor's Strong DISLIKE Towards Him For 'THESE' Reasons!
Rishi Kapoor's autobiography, 'Khullam Khulla,' is a treasure for information on everything that transpired in Bollywood from the 1940s to the 1980s and the early 1990s. In his autobiography, the actor discussed his illogical dislike of Rajesh Khanna and even related how, despite the actor's desperation to collaborate with Raj Kapoor, he refused to let Khanna be cast in his father Raj Kapoor's movie 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram.'
Khanna was often referred to as 'Kaka ji,' and he acknowledged Raj Kapoor's devotion to his work. Raj Kapoor gave the role of the 'Bawarchi' actor, a favourite of his, when he began production on 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram.' The cast, particularly Rishi Kapoor, the son of Raj Kapoor, weren't sure if Kaka was the best choice for the major role in the movie.
(Also read: Neetu Kapoor shares a post remembering the late Rishi Kapoor on his 70th birth anniversary)
Later, they and Rishi Kapoor came to the conclusion that Shashi Kapoor should be cast in the movie rather than Rajesh Khanna. In the media at the time, Rajesh Khanna reportedly claimed that Rishi Kapoor was to blame for his failure to land the role, according to a popular news portal.
The superstar made some dark confessions in his autobiography 'Khullam Khulla' regarding his 'illogical dislike' of Rajesh Khanna and admitted to playing some dirty tricks while in the profession. Thanks to Chintuji, Rajesh Khanna, who wished to work on a movie with Raj Kapoor, was never given the chance. He claims that despite his father wanting to cast Khanna in 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram,' he ruined his prospects and convinced him not to. Shashi Kapoor ultimately won the part.
Rishi Kapoor explained his reasons for disliking Rajesh Khanna in the same book. He said, “He got rid of my ring, he took away my heroine, got married to her, so obviously there were enough reasons for me.”
The ring he mentioned was given to the 'Bobby' actor by his then-girlfriend, who also stole the ring from him and started wearing it while he was filming his debut movie with Dimple Kapadia. Dimple was romantically linked with Rajesh Khanna, who objected to her wearing Rishi Kapoor's ring and threw it into the sea. For some unexplained reason, Rishi ji was furious about this.
In a subsequent 2017 interview he admitted, “Dimple is going to kill me if I bring this up… But it’s fine, Kakaji is no more. I probably disliked him because he took away my heroine. So there was a kind of… I felt bad about that. Otherwise there was no ill feelings, I worked with him a lot. I even directed him in a film.”
In an effort to make corrections, Rishi Kapoor cast Rajesh Khanna in his later film 'Aa Ab Laut Chalein.' Kaka ji, however, had already moved beyond the Cold War at that point and warmly accepted the offer.
