Director Hrishikesh Mukherjee was the only filmmaker who managed to cast Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan in two films – Anand and Namak Haram. Hrishikesh was a strict taskmaster on set and ensured that his cast members followed the rules laid down by him. In a recent interview, veteran actor Raza Murad, who was also a part of Namak Haram, recalled the time when Hrishikesh scolded Amitabh and Rajesh on set because they were causing delays on set.
He recalled the incident while they were filming the song “Sooni Re Sejaria” and both Rajesh and Amitabh were missing from set because they were taking calls at the studio office. “Hrishi da set up the shot and he called Rajesh for the shot. He was told that he has gone to attend a phone call. Once he came back, he scolded Rajesh, ‘tum phone karne jata hai, pata hai kitna nuksan hota hai producer ka? Rs 4000 ek minute nuksan hota hai. (You go and take calls, do you know the producer loses Rs 4000 per minute?)’,” he recalled.
Raza said that Hrishikesh then called Amitabh but was told that even the Zanjeer star was busy taking a call. “Dono ko bulaya, bithaya aur class li. ‘Tum idhar kaam karne ke liye aaya hai ya phone karne ke liye aaya hai? Abhi jab tak gana khatam nahi hoga, koi set se bahar nahi jayega’. (He called them both and sat them down. He asked them, ‘Have you come here to work or take calls? Now until the time the song shoot ends, no one will leave.),” he said and added that Hrishikesh Mukherjee proceeded to lock the studio gate from inside and only opened it at 12:30 am when the shoot was wrapped.
It is said that Amitabh’s successes after Namak Haram established him as the biggest star of the time, and he took over Rajesh Khanna’s spot. The two never collaborated for any film again. Years later, in an interview with Movie magazine, Rajesh said, “When I saw Namak Haram at a trial at Liberty cinema. I knew my time was up. I told Hrishida, ‘Here is the superstar of tomorrow’.”
