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‘Rajesh Khanna abused me, I was very upset,’ recalls veteran actor Tej Sapru

'Rajesh Kha  a abused me, I was ve y upset,'  ecalls vete a  acto  Tej Sap u: 'I thi k his dow fall came ea lie  because of that a  oga ce'

Vete a
acto
Tej
Sap u
has
ope ed
up
about
a
memo able
i cide t
i volvi g

Rajesh
Kha a,
eveali g
that
the
Hi di
ci ema
lege d
o ce
u expectedly
abused
him
o
a
film
set.
He
also
cla ified
that
Rajesh
late
apologised
a d
made
ame ds.
Sap u
desc ibed
Kha a
as
a
ma
of
co t adictio s,
someo e
who
could
be
a oga t
at
the
peak
of
his
sta dom,
yet
o e
of
the
most
ge e ous
people
he
had
eve
k ow .Sap u,
whose
ca ee
spa s
mo e
tha
fou
decades
a d
ove
300
films,
said
the
episode
left
him
deeply
hu t
because
of
the
imme se
espect
he
had
always
held
fo
I dia’s
fi st
supe sta .Talki g
about
Rajesh
Kha a’s
pe so ality,
Sap u
said
fame
ofte
cha ges
ot
o ly
sta s
but
also
the
people
a ou d
them.“Rajesh
Kha a
had
a oga ce.
It
happe s
whe
you’ e
at
the
peak
of
you
ca ee .
Mo e
tha
you,
it’s
ofte
the
people
a ou d
you
whose
heads
get
tu ed.
That
happe s.
But
at
the
same
time,
I
have
eve
see
a
mo e
ge e ous
ma
tha
him,”
he
said
o
the
Rediff
Podcast.Sap u
the
ecalled
a
i cide t
f om
the
shoot
of
o e
of
thei
films
i
Kashmi .
“The e
was
a
i cide t
whe
we
we e
wo ki g
togethe .
I
sudde ly
hea d
someo e
abusi g
me
f om
behi d.

I
tu ed
a ou d
a d
saw
that
it
was
Kaka
ji
(Rajesh
Kha a).”Without
eveali g
exactly
what
led
to
the
outbu st,
Sap u
said
Kha a
was
with
o e
of
the
film’s
act esses
whe
the
i cide t
took
place.
The
acto
admitted
the
i cide t
affected
him
deeply
because
he
had
always
admi ed
Rajesh
Kha a
a d
espected
him
as
a
se io .Explai i g
why
the
i cide t
upset
him
so
much,
Sap u
added,
“His
fi st
film
was
with
Sap u
saab
(my
fathe
D.K.
Sap u).
I
have
imme se
espect
fo
him.
Not
just
fo
him—fo
a yo e
se io
to
me
o
a yo e
who
has
wo ked
with
my
fathe .
Whethe
they
a e
a
bigge
acto
o
a
smalle
o e,
I
eve
sit
o
a
chai
u til
they
a e
seated.
Eve
afte
givi g
him
so
much
espect,
I
do ’t
k ow
what
happe ed
that
he
abused
me
f om
behi d.
I
was
ve y
upset.”The
followi g
day,
the
team
was
shooti g
a
chase
seque ce
i
the
s ow.
Still
upset
ove
the
p evious
day’s
i cide t,
Sap u
delibe ately
chose
ot
to
g eet
the
supe sta .“That
was
the
fi st
day
I
did ’t
wish
him.
I
sat
o
my
chai
with
o e
leg
c ossed
ove
the
othe .”Afte
the
shot,
Rajesh
Kha a
walked
up
to
him.“He
came
up
to
me
a d
said,
‘Hey,
tall
boy…
fo get
it.’”
Sap u
eplied,
“Si ,
you
abused
me
without
a y
easo .
You
we e
the
o e
who
had
told
me
we
we e
just
havi g
fu .”
Acco di g
to
the
acto ,
Kha a
immediately
t ied
to
patch
thi gs
up.
“He
said,
‘It
happe ed.
Fo get
it.
Come.’
The
he
asked
me
to
come
to
his
hotel
with
him.”Although
Sap u
was
stayi g
at
a
diffe e t
hotel,
he
accepted
Kha a’s
i vitatio
afte
fi ishi g
wo k.
“I
told
him,
‘Si ,
I’ll
come
to
you
hotel.
I’m
stayi g
somewhe e
else.
I
usually
f eshe
up
i
the
eve i g
because
I
do ’t
eve
have
a
p ope
wash oom
i
my
oom.’
F om
the e,
he
took
me
alo g,
a d
we
spe t
the
whole
ight
eati g
a d
d i ki g
togethe .
He
ealised
that
what
he
had
said
was
w o g.”Sap u
said
the
i cide t
eve
affected
thei
elatio ship.
I
fact,
afte
Rajesh
Kha a’s
ca ee
slowed
dow ,
he
made
it
a
poi t
to
visit
the
acto
egula ly.“Whe
his
dow fall
came,
he
had
a
office
i
Kha .
If
ot
eve y
week,
the
at
least
o ce
eve y
10
days,
I
would
go
a d
meet
him.
His
favou ite
whisky
at
the
time
was
Red
Label,
a d
I
always
took
a
bottle
with
me.”Looki g
back
at
Rajesh
Kha a’s
ca ee ,
Sap u
said
he
believed
the
supe sta ’s
a oga ce
may
have
co t ibuted
to
his
decli e,
especially
whe
compa ed
with
co tempo a ies
like
Dha me d a
a d
Jeete d a.“I
thi k
his
dow fall
came
ea lie
because
of
that
a oga ce,
especially
whe
compa ed
to
Dha am
ji
(Dha me d a)
a d
Jeetu
ji
(Jeete d a).
That’s
how
I
felt.”Despite
that
obse vatio ,
Sap u
was
emphatic
that
o
othe
acto
has
e joyed
the
ki d
of
sta dom
Rajesh
Kha a
did.“But
as
a
sta ,
I
have
eve
see
a yo e
with
the
ki d
of
followi g
he
had.”

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