Rajesh Khanna acted in 'Anand' at a nominal fee, reveals Gulzar

Veteran writer-lyricist Gulzar has revealed that the late superstar Rajesh Khanna acted in superhit film “Anand” at a nominal fee.

Gulzar, 82, said Khanna did so because he liked the story. “He threw a big party after the success of ‘Anand’,” Gulzar was quoted as saying in a media release issued here.

“Anand” directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee starred Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan in lead roles. Gulzar had written the screenplay and dialogues for this 1971 drama film.

He also revealed that Mukherjee had a very good sense of humour and it perhaps reflected in movies like “Khoobsurat”, “Chupke Chupke” and others.

Gulzar was speaking at the master-class session held by Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association (IFTDA) and moderated by acclaimed filmmaker Sudhir Mishra last week.

This was part of IFTDA’s monthly initiative ‘IFTDA Meet the Director’ session that provides a platform for filmmakers to interact with established directors and in process, learn and hone their craft of filmmaking and storytelling.

The “Aandhi” helmer spoke about his journey into films, the evolution of the industry, his frequent collaborators and friends like RD Burman, Sanjeev Kumar, Vishal Bhardwaj, AR Rahman and others, his love for languages.

“Hari Bhai (Sanjeev Kumar) and Pancham (Burman) were two anchors in my life and I loved both of them immensely. We shared a relationship where we could disagree with each other without feeling bad at all,” Gulzar said.

When he was asked about filmmakers being influenced a lot by films in West, Gulzar said, “We have such vast history and so many stories from our historic culture that we don’t have to look anywhere else for inspiration. Yes, the technology in west is very advanced for sure.”

Actor Jeetendra who worked with Gulzar on films like “Parichay”, “Khushboo” and “Kinaara”, felicitated him on behalf of IFTDA.