 "Netflix’s ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’ actor Rajat Bedi reveals Amitabh Bachchan-Rajesh Khanna's rivalry led his father to financial losses & alcoholism: 'My dad had started 2-3 films with...'")
Rajat Bedi, who has been garnering accolades and limelight for his portrayal of Jaraj Saxena in Aryan Khan and Netflix’s show, ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’, revealed how the rivalry between Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan led his father and filmmaker Narendra Bedi to financial losses & alcoholism.
Narendra Bedi, known for making memorable films like Sanam Teri Kasam, Jawani Diwani, Khotey Sikkey, Adalat, Rafoo Chakkar and Benaam, among others.
“He died in front of my eyes. I came from school, and he came out of the room and collapsed in front of me," said Rajat as quoted by SCREEN. “He had become an alcoholic, and he got into depression. He was doing very well, but my grandfather had some liabilities of films, and my father was taking care of that," the actor added.
Rajat also shared how the rivalry between Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan impacted his dad personally and professionally. “Then my dad was also facing issues with Rajesh Khanna. He had started 2-3 films with Rajesh Khanna, and Rajesh Khanna felt bad that my father was engaging with Amitabh Bachchan and doing projects with him. I don’t know the real story, but my father had taken the unit to Pune for one or two films, and he was waiting for Rajesh Khanna to come," the Koi Mil Gaya actor said.
“For 10 to 15 days, Rajesh Khanna didn’t come, and my father just closed the projects. I guess heroes at that time were problematic or something. So there were some issues between Rajesh Khanna and Papa, maybe because of Bachchan sahab or various other things. So Papa got into…," he added.
Rajat also spoke about his father’s bond with Rajesh Khanna and asserted, “So Rajesh Khanna and Papa used to drink all night. I remember in my house, there used to be crates of alcohol. He used to smoke, have Pan Parag; the lifestyle was terrible. Rajesh would leave him at 5-6 in the morning, and all night they would be drinking."
Speaking about Narendra Modi succumbing to alcoholism, Rajat shared, “It became so bad that when he would go for shoots… like during the shooting of Sanam Teri Kasam, he would be drinking from morning, and Kamal Haasan ji would get very upset with that because he would come on set smelling of alcohol. He was going through his journey of pain through all those circumstances."