Rajesh Khanna's habit of coming late to sets affected Sharmila Tagore: 'That's why I decided to work with other actors'

Sharmila Tagore has said that Rajesh Khanna used to arrive very late on the sets of the films. Sharmila and Rajesh have worked together in many films in the late 60s and early 70s.

Actor Sharmila Tagore, who has done several films with actor Rajesh Khanna revealed that there was one thing that she didn't like about the late actor. Sharmila said that when they used to shoot for film at 9 AM, Kaka used to arrive at 12 PM. She added that this attitude of Rajesh led her to work with other actors.

Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna starred together in 10 films.

Rajesh Khanna, with his incredible journey in the film industry, delivered successive super-hits in the late 60s and early 70s. He is considered among the few actors to be called a ‘superstar’ in the Hindi film industry history. In 2011 Rajesh was diagnosed with a rare form of intestinal cancer. He succumbed to it the following year on 18 July.

In the audiobook, Rajesh Khanna: Ek Tanha Sitara, released on the tenth anniversary of his death on Audible, Sharmila Tagore recalled, “One thing that affected me the most about Kaka (Rajesh Khanna) was him coming very late for the shoots. For a 9 am shift, Kaka never reached before 12 pm. That's why I decided to work with other actors even after knowing that our on-screen pairing was quite successful and loved by audiences."

In the audiobook, Sharmila also spoke about how Rajesh Khanna was ‘a man full of contradictions and complexities’. She recounted how he would shower co-actors, colleagues, and friends with expensive gifts. "Sometimes he even bought them a house but in return, it seems Kaka had great expectations of them, which eventually strained his relations

Sharmila and Rajesh were one of the most popular on-screen couples in the Bollywood in the late 60s and early 70s. They worked together in films such as Aradhana (1969), Safar (1970), Amar Prem (1972), Aavishkar (1974), Daag: A Poem of Love (1973), Tyaag (1977), and Raja Rani (1973).