When Rajesh Khanna lost his temper at Dimple Kapadia for making a suggestion: ‘Ab tum mujhe sikhaogi?”

Dimple Kapadia and Rajesh Khanna (Pic/Mid-Day Archive)

Rajesh Khanna, a major heartthrob of his era, found himself captivated by Dimple Kapadia. Smitten by her charm, he proposed, and Dimple said yes. At the time of their marriage, Dimple was just 15 years old, while Rajesh was nearly twice her age. Dimple once revealed that Rajesh scolded her when she offered a simple suggestion.

Rajesh Khanna had once scolded Dimple Kapadia

In a candid old interview with Rediff, Dimple Kapadia opened up about a tense moment with Rajesh Khanna. She shared that while working on Jai Shiv Shankar, the only movie they did together, Kaka scolded her for giving a suggestion, leaving her quite shaken. "It was very nice. The film shaped up very well, but there were financial problems. One time he was not well while we were shooting and he was supposed to come out on the balcony and wave to the press. I handed him my shawl and sunglasses and told him nicely, ‘Kakaji, when you go out, don't look straight, your side profile looks better.' He just looked up at me and said sternly, ‘Ab tum mujhe sikhaogi?".

Rajesh Khanna on Twinkle Khanna's acting career:

Rajesh Khanna had been away from the spotlight for years when his daughter, Twinkle Khanna, started her acting career in 1995. He knew the highs and lows of the film industry well, having reached great success and then experiencing a significant decline when his movies stopped doing well.

This downturn also impacted his marriage with Dimple Kapadia, who left him in the 1980s along with their two daughters, Twinkle and Rinke.

He came out of his shell to attend an event for Twinkle Khanna's film Itihaas, where he talked about his absence and the advice he gave her when she entered the movie business. In an old interview on the Lehren Retro YouTube channel, when photographers asked Twinkle to smile for the camera, Rajesh, standing next to her, commented, "There was a time when you would call out to me and ask me to smile, now you're calling out to her."

When someone mentioned that he's rarely seen at such events anymore, he responded, "I live in Delhi now, that's why I'm not seen as often here."

When asked how he gives advice and inspiration to Twinkle from Delhi, he said, "She often asks me for advice, and I tell her that I had no godfather in the industry when I started out, and that she must find her own way as well. I told her not to seek advice from her mother as well, because if she asks her mother for advice, she'll only get more confused."