One day the flowers stopped coming: Rajesh Khanna on not being a star

Rajesh Khanna knew when he was a superstar but also realised when he was a spent force, and according to Mahesh Bhatt ,once candidly admitted that it was on one birthday he came to know how far he had fallen.

“I remember asking him once a question: when did it dawn on you that you are a spent force, that the best years are behind you? He took a painful pause and he said, Mahesh one day the flowers stopped coming. Aashirwad (Rajesh Khanna’s bungalow in suburban Bandra) used to have truckload of flowers on my birthday. And one day there were no flowers,” Bhatt told CNN IBN.

“Anybody who had the power to reflect on that painful moment, perhaps can materialize the entire Rajesh Khanna narrative and realise that there wasn’t to be a resurrection, and that the tragedy is a part of his person,” the director said.

Bhatt was also all praise for the actor’s films but said it didn’t hurt the actor’s prospects that his films had some of the industry’s most memorable songs.

“I think he was lucky to get great music and great stories,” he said.

So what led to the actor’s downfall? According to Bhatt, it was his inability to rise above the persona he had managed to create on screen.

“When you have one hit after the other you become invincible. He did precious little to get out of that persona which had found resounding success. Obliviously there was no reason to look for a new persona because it was working magic and one day suddenly he woke up and discovered that he kingdom he ruled did not exist,” he said.