Rajesh Khanna does not need an introduction. He was one of the biggest actors of his time and enjoyed immense stardom. Now, director R Balki, who worked with him on his final ad shoot for a ceiling fan company, has shared his experience.
What R Balki Said About Rajesh Khanna
"It was a beautiful experience. I can never forget when I went to him. I never called him 'Kaka.' I called him 'Sir,'" said Balki while speaking on the Mama's Couch podcast.
The filmmaker added, "I read out the script to him. He laughed. I asked him, 'You're understanding the script na?' He said, 'Why are you asking me this?' He was quite ill at that point in time. I said, 'I'm saying all your fans have gone away, but I'll always have Havells by me.' I was actually doing the truth in a funny way. He told me, 'Babu moshai, you think I'd been a superstar if I didn't have a sense of humour?'"
Recalling the shoot a few months later, Balki spoke about Rajesh Khanna's deteriorating health and said, "He was suffering. We were shooting in Bangalore. He had to fly in an air ambulance. He had an IV drip in one hand. He came to the set in a wheelchair. He could get up, they'd remove the drip, and he could shoot exactly for 45 seconds before he'd have to go back."
"He saw the ad at the end of it. He was happy. He said, 'We'll do a film together.' He died a couple of weeks after that," added Balki. The ad was released in 2012.
The experience was deeply emotional for Balki. "It was very emotional because I saw him in the worst state possible, in the most thin, fragile state. He knew he didn't have much time."
Rajesh Khanna died on July 18, 2012.
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