“People warned me,” she recalled. “They said he’s very temperamental, that working with him could be tough. But honestly, I didn’t face anything like that. Not even for a single day.”
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andIn a recollection of her early days in Bollywood, veteran actor and politician Poonam Dhillon opened up about her experience working with the legendary Rajesh Khanna, sharing a version of the superstar that differs from the stories she was told.
Dhillon, who stepped into the Hindi film industry with ‘Trishul’ in 1978 alongside cinema greats like Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, and Sanjeev Kumar, quickly rose to fame with her next film ‘Noorie’ in 1979.
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It was after these back-to-back hits that Poonam Dhillon got the opportunity to star opposite Rajesh Khanna, popularly known as “Kaka” in ‘Red Rose’.
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Speaking to ANI, Dhillon said she had been cautioned by others before starting the project. “People warned me,” she recalled. “They said he’s very temperamental, that working with him could be tough. But honestly, I didn’t face anything like that. Not even for a single day.”
Instead, her memories of Rajesh Khanna are warm and full of respect. ‘Red Rose’, in which Dhillon played a saleswoman opposite Khanna’s character — a mentally disturbed, violent man — was a demanding project, especially for a newcomer. But Khanna made it easier.
“It was a difficult role for someone so inexperienced,” she admitted. “He helped me, He told me how to breathe in a scene, how to fall into the frame, how to emote a certain way. He guided me through it all.”
Far from the ‘moody’ star image that often accompanied him, Khanna was, according to Dhillon, generous and thoughtful on set. She described his approach as “gentle mentoring”.
The success of ‘Red Rose’ led to several other collaborations between the two actors. They appeared together in ‘Dard’, ‘Nishaan’, ‘Zamana’, and ‘Awam’, forming a solid on-screen partnership.
While Dhillon clarified that they weren’t friends in the casual sense — the age and experience gap being considerable — she acknowledged that there was always a deep sense of trust and support between them. “He was never a buddy, but always someone who looked out for me.”
Dhillon’s journey in the entertainment world has spanned decades. After leaving a mark in cinema, she moved into television and even reality TV. In 2009, she entered the Bigg Boss house in its third season.
Later, in 2013, she played a key role in the TV series ‘Ekk Nayi Pehchaan’.
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