“Kaka, that’s what I called him, and he called me ‘Moti’. We did nine films together. By God’s grace, all of them were hits. Hamari jodi chali, aur khoob chali,” says the iconic Mumtaz fondly while speaking about her favourite co-star Rajesh Khanna.
“I had other favourites, Shammi Kapoor, Feroz Khan, Dharmendra. But I’ve to admit Kaka ke saath kuch baat hi aur thi. We had great chemistry on screen. The audiences simply loved us together. And we had such hit songs to sing together. The songs Bindiya Chamkegi (Do Raaste), Jai Jai Shiv Shankar (Aap Ki Kasam), Sun Champa Sun Tara (Apna Desh), Chal Dariya Mein Doob Jaayen (Prem Kahani) also added to our popularity together,” recalls Mumtaz.
Speaking about her favourite film with Rajesh Khanna, Mumtaz recalled, “I liked all of them, although I didn’t have that much to do in many of my films with Kaka. He was the star attraction. But yes, I enjoyed working with him. He was not a very friendly sort. But we had a very warm connect. During the shooting of Manmohan Desai’s Roti he had to carry me on his shoulder for the climax. The shooting for this sequence went on for almost a fortnight. Every morning he would playfully tell me, ‘Chal moti, aa jaa’ pointing to get on his shoulders.”
Mumtaz admits Rajesh Khanna didn’t like her working with other co-stars. “Whenever there was an announcement for my film with another hero, I could feel the tension in the air during our shooting. He would sulk in a corner if I signed any film with another hero. He could work with anyone—he did so many films with Sharmila (Tagore) ji —but he wanted me to work only with him.”
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