Throwback: When Asrani recalled ‘palpable tension’ between Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan on Namak Haraam sets: “Rajesh Khanna never accepted his downfall…”

October 21, 2025 - 12:00 PM IST

Moviegoers and the industry were saddened with the passing of one of the finest actors of Indian Cinema, Asrani, on October 20. He had a rich filmography and proved his worth with each and every performance. In a detailed interview to Filmfare in 2018, he went down memory lane and opened up about some of his memorable films.

Throwback: When Asrani recalled ‘palpable tension’ between Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan on Namak Haraam sets: “Rajesh Khanna never accepted his downfall…”

While talking about Namak Haraam (1973), he said, “Zanjeer (1973) had not been released then. There was a basic courtesy between the two, but Rajesh suffered from a superiority complex. He believed ‘no one can shake me. I am too powerful’. Throughout the film, there was palpable tension between the two.”

He added, “At the onset, Hrish da (Hrishikesh Mukherjee) had asked both of them which role they wanted to play. He had said, ‘There are two characters, one dies, one fights back! You decide’. In those days, the trend was that the actor who died on screen won all the raves. Rajesh chose to die. On the final day of the shoot, Rajesh Khanna’s garlanded photo frame was hung up at Mohan Studio… Hrishi da sent his assistant Nitin Mukesh to call (Amitabh Bachchan) for the shot. Nitin came back saying he was not opening the door. Apparently, Amitabh was lamenting his decision of ‘not dying’ in the film. He thought perhaps he’d be able to persuade Hrishi da to change the end. But the garlanded frame was already put up and that had upset him.”

Hrishikesh Mukherjee somehow convinced Amitabh Bachchan to do the shot. Asrani continued, “Amitabh came on the set and did the shot. But after that film, he (Amitabh) became a superstar. There’s a scene where Rajesh Khanna meets with an accident. Amitabh’s seething anger, where he asks the crowd, ‘Kissne maara?’ got the audience clapping. Ironically, it was after Namak Haram that Rajesh Khanna’s downslide began. The ‘lover boy’ phase was over. The ‘angry young man’ had arrived.”

He also said, “Through the years, my relationship with Rajesh remained cordial. He’d often invite me for drinks. But he never confided in anyone. I don’t think he was close to anyone. He liked to be with people who only spoke good things about him. He never accepted his downfall. Though I did sense frustration developing in him during the shoot of Anurodh (1977). Years later, I was shooting for Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya (2001) in Hyderabad, where I went to meet him at Banjara Hotels. He had the same style.”

Also Read: Throwback: When Hrishikesh Mukherjee said that Asrani is his favourite actor of all, “What a talent, what an actor!”