Asha Parekh: 'Rajesh Khanna had inferiority complex when we shot Baharon Ke Sapne'

Asha Parekh has said that Rajesh Khanna perhaps suffered from inferiority complex when they shot together for the 1967 film Baharon Ke Sapne that was directed by Nasir Hussain. It was Rajesh's second film while Asha was already an established name in the film industry, having given hits such as Dil Deke Dekho (her second film), Teesri Manzil, Love In Tokyo and Do Badan, among many others. (Also read: Javed Akhtar recalls how Rajesh Khanna helped him and Salim Khan become richer)

Recalling working with India's first superstar, Asha said at an ABP event in Mumbai, "Basically he was an introvert, he would not talk much (on sets). He was absolutely (introvert). He would sit in a corner, zyada baat nahi karni. (won't talk much). Aur, shayad (maybe) jab Baharon Ke Sapne bani thi to wo unki dusri picture thi (Maybe because it was only his second film). I was already a star and main Baharon Ke Sapne karne wali bhi nahi thi, Nanda heroine thi lekin unhone kaha nahi karna kyuki wo glamourous role nahi tha (It was Nanda who was supposed to do the film, not me. And she refused to do it because it was a non-glamourous role)."

She added, "Then, Nasir Hussain came to me and urged me to work on the film. I asked him to adjust the dates according to my availability and he agreed. And, because of that (dates clash and unavailability), there were several times when the dates (of Baharon ke Sapne) had to be shifted back and forth and a few incidents occurred with Rajesh Khanna. Tabse maine kaha (Since then, I thought) .... He was basically introverted, aur unko shayad inferiority complex bhi tha shayad us waqt (perhaps, he had inferiority complex at the time). He had a little bit of inferiority complex, but once he became a superstar, all that changed."

Having started her showbiz journey as a child artist in 1952, Asha made her leading character debut opposite Shammi Kapoor in 1959 with Dil Deke Dekho.

She worked with Rajesh Khanna in three other films, including the popular Kati Patang and Aan Milo Sajna. He was already a superstar by the time he shot these two.