It was 1972, when Hrishikesh Mukherjee began the shoot for one of his most critically acclaimed film Namak Haraam. The film starred Bollywood’s then heartthrob Rajesh Khanna, the rising star Amitabh Bachchan, and actor Raza Murad, who was just starting his career in the film industry, this was a moment of awe. Raza was all the more awestruck because he had a lot of scenes with Rajesh Khanna in the film, and since they were playing close friends, they were supposed to address each other as ‘bandhu (friend)’ in the film. However, in reality, Rajesh Khanna was not very happy with Raza playing this role as he wanted his friend, actor Vinod Kumar Sharma to get the role but director Hrishikesh Mukherjee strictly said no to him.
In an interview with ANI, Raza recalled the time when he first got the opportunity to work with superstar Rajesh Khanna and was cautioned that his behaviour towards him might be cold. “Rajesh Khanna wanted his guru and friend VK Sharma to do the role of Alam, but Hrishi Da didn’t agree to it. This had upset Kaka.” Raza shared that back then, saying no to Rajesh was equivalent to upsetting god as he was treated as one due to his stardom. He said, “Upar aaka, neeche Kaka aur baki sabki ma ka… (It’s god in the heavens, Rajesh on earth and for the others (expletive)…)” he said.
“After the incident, Neil Nitin Mukesh’s father, Nitin Mukesh who was working as an assistant to Hrishi Da cautioned me and said, ‘Kaka might treat you differently or be cold towards you.’ While it made me uneasy, I also knew that I had to work even if I had to do it against the odds”, said the veteran actor.
Raza shared that when he got to the location to shoot the film, he witnessed something that he had never imagined. “About 2000 girls had crowded on set to see Rajesh Khanna. There was a hysteria.The whole country was under Rajesh Khanna’s spell. He used to create mob hysteria. It was very organic. There was no PR, no phone, no television, still people would know about his whereabouts and reach there to see him,” he recalled.
After watching this, Raza decided to meet Rajesh Khanna before they began the shoot. “I told Nitin Mukesh, ‘Introduce me to him.’ He took me to him and said, ‘Kaka, this is Raza Murad. He is playing the role of Alam.’ He quickly looked at me, stood up and to our surprise, shook hands with me. It was a very friendly gesture, which was a great thing.”
Raza said when they shot the first scene, he was feeling uneasy knowing Rajesh might not be happy with his casting. However, after the began shooting, Rajesh paid him a compliment and this eased the tension between them, helping him complete the film’s shoot smoothly.
