When Rajesh Khanna Slashed His Remuneration By More Than Half For This Filmmaker – News18

From the late 60s to the mid-70s, Rajesh Khanna was the reigning king of Hindi cinema. The films he did during this period made him the first superstar of the country. Though there had been big stars before him as well, it was not until Rajesh Khanna arrived that people knew what mass hysteria over a celebrity looked like. Given his superstardom, it does not come as a surprise that Rajesh Khanna soon became the highest-paid lead actor of his time. With each superhit he delivered, his asking price rose tremendously, just like his stardom. He would initially charge around Rs 10 lakh for a film, up until 1970. With the success of Aradhana (1969), among other films, his salary increased to between Rs 20 and Rs 27 lakh, which continued over the 70s decade. Producers were so keen to sign him up, that they would normally give in to whatever signing amount he asked for. Rajesh Khanna made an exception for one filmmaker in his career and charged less than even half of his remuneration to appear in his film. The filmmaker was Hrishikesh Mukherjee, and the movie was the 1971 cult classic Anand.

Rajesh Khanna’s normal remuneration would have wiped out the entire budget of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, whose films were known to be low-budget. Being considerate, Rajesh charged only Rs 7 lakh for Anand. The film’s dialogues like “Zindagi badi honi chahiye, lambi nahi (Life should be measured by its greatness and not duration) are still remembered. It also had evergreen songs like Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaye, Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli and Maine Tere Liye Hi Saat Rang Ke Sapne Chune. Made on a budget of Rs 30 lakh, the film grossed Rs 0.98 crore at the box office, emerging as a huge hit. The film also starred Amitabh Bachchan, who was then just a struggling actor. Ironically, it would later be Amitabh Bachchan who would take away the throne from Rajesh Khanna and become the next big thing in Hindi cinema.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee directed Rajesh Khanna in three more films — Bawarchi, Naukri and Namak Haraam.