The love story of Rajesh Khanna and Anju Mahendru made headlines since the time they met in 1966 till the time the actor passed away in 2012. Anju is known as the only woman who didn’t swoon over him or pamper the actor’s ego, which led to the end of their relationship. At a time when women wrote letters in blood to Rajesh Khanna, Anju was level-headed around him. They were in a live-in relationship from 1966 to 1972, but their love story never had a happy ending, and the reasons were many. Like any Bollywood masala film, their relationship had challenges, affairs, rumours, rejections, and jealousy.
It is said they met during a theatre play. While Rajesh Khanna bagged his film break through a talent hunt, Anju began her career as a model at the age of 13. Their love blossomed and they were quite open about their relationship.
Rajesh Khanna became an overnight sensation, while Anju was still struggling, getting only small roles. Eventually, Rajesh bought his house Aashirvad, which was managed by her. Some say the actor had gifted the house to her. Every party and event at Aashirvad happened under the guidance of Anju. Over time, Rajesh Khanna became quite possessive about his girlfriend, so much that he was against her acting career. He would create situations that would force her to pull out of projects despite having shot for them for weeks.
In an interview with Stardust in 1973, Anju said: “Rajesh was quite insecure and possessive about me. He thought he could control my life. He became very suspicious, so much that he would call up my house every now and then and ask about my whereabouts. He just wanted me to be home and wait for him the whole time.”
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In one of the old interviews with SCREEN, Anju had shared, “Basically he is a very orthodox man, yet somehow he always gets attracted to ultra modern girls. I know it’s a contradiction, but then Rajesh Khanna is like that. Confusion was a part of our relationship. If I wore a skirt, he’d snap, why don’t you wear a saree? If I wore a saree, he’d wrinkle his nose and say, why are you trying to project a Bhartiya nari look?’”
Parties at Rajesh Khanna’s residence had become a norm. And it was Anju’s responsibility to take care of the whole event. In an interview with Rediff, Mumtaz recalled, “I remember when Rajesh Khanna was known as the phenomenon. My bungalow was very close to his. I have seen big-name producers and directors behaving like his chamchas. His girlfriend Anju Mahendru would play host all night. She would serve food and drinks till 3 am.”
In an interview with Rediff, a source told Shubhash K Jha, “Anju couldn’t bear Kaka’s durbar every night. His coterie would gather night after night. The drinking sessions would go on all night. Anju hated it. She had to play the hostess, serving drinks until 2 am. Kaka would have his dinner at 3 am. Never one to mince words, Anju would warn Kaka against the hangers-on, but he was impervious to sensible advice.”
Amid the tension between the two, rumours of him dating his co-stars like Mumtaz and Sharmila Tagore would also make headlines, upsetting Anju.
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In an interview with ABP, Senior film journalist Rauf Ahmed said: “He was not an easy person to handle after he achieved phenomenal success.” Rajesh Khanna’s stardom was, however, short-lived. After 15 consecutive hits, the actor began to see flops after flop. This made his relationship with Anju even worse.
Rauf Ahmed told ABP, “After his films became flop, he became very difficult to handle and stayed quite irritated all the time. I think that was the phase when he needed someone to handle him differently, slowly he lost all of his friends.”
Anju told Stardust in their 1973 interview, “It was becoming quite difficult to be around Rajesh Khanna. As his films began to fail at box office, this kept him stressed mentally. He had become quiet moody, short tempered and would get annoyed easily. He would stay stressed the whole time, and that gave me stress. Due to all this, even I became quite irritated. I did try and tell him that highs and lows are normal in a celeb’s life. He wanted me to pay attention to him the whole time and just pamper him, but that was not possible for me.”
In the same interview, Rajesh Khanna said, “I accept that I had become difficult to be with after my films failed at box office. At this time, I expected Anju to be with me and support me. I wanted her to help me overcome my bad phase. At a time when I needed her the most, she was never around me.”
Rajesh Khanna also had a complain that Anju never expressed her love for him openly. “It was always me, who went to her. She would never put an effort to come to me.”
In 1971, Rajesh Khanna reportedly proposed to Anju for marriage, but she refused as she wanted to focus on her career. This only made their lives together tougher. This was also the time when Anju was associated with famous West Indies cricketer, Gary Sobers, whom she met at a friend’s place. There even came a day, when he proposed to her and she accepted the ring.
Speaking to Times of India in 2003, Anju said she was quite young when she met Gary who was a legend.
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Speaking about her engagement to him, Anju said one evening Garry popped out a ring and she, without giving it a thought, quickly accepted it. She confessed that she was attracted to him, but soon she realised she didn’t love him.
Her engagement to Garry angered Rajesh Khanna. After an argument with him, Anju called Garry from the actor’s house and broke their engagement. She said the whole scene with Garry was to make Rajesh Khanna jealous. This episode did bring the couple close, but it was short-lived.
This was also the time when Raj Kapoor had announced his newest heroine, a 15-year-old Dimple Kapadia. He was all set to launch her alongside his son, Rishi Kapoor in the film Bobby. She had become quite a sensation. Rajesh Khanna, who reportedly knew Dimple’s father, fell in love with her at first sight.
In 1972, several film stars flew down to Ahmedabad to attend an event. Both Rajesh and Dimple were in the same flight. The seat next to Dimple was vacant. Rajesh made use of the opportunity, and sat next to the girl who he soon made his wife.
As news of their affair began to make headlines, an upset Anju questioned Rajesh Khanna, but he refused and said, “We are just friends.”
Amid his dating rumours with Dimple, Rajesh Khanna threw a lavish party at his residence and Anju was made in-charge of inviting guests. While she invited the whole film industry, she skipped the Kapadias. An angry Rajesh Khanna called up Dimple, apologised and invited her to the party. This was the time when Dimple and Anju had a face-off.
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Anju told Stardust, “When Rajesh and I met her for the first time, Dimple addressed us as uncle and aunty and then I suddenly saw a shift in her attitude. She pretended to be innocent, but she would take indirect digs at me.”
Recalling an incident, Anju said, “On Rajesh Khanna’s birthday party, she sarcastically asked me if she could come in. I also lost my cool and ended up saying: ‘If you are invited then sure, if not, please go back.’”
This upset Rajesh Khanna. He told Stardust, “Anju purposely didn’t invite the Kapadias. This was outrageous. After all, they were my guests. This wasn’t the first time that Anju behaved this way with my guests. I have lost a lot of my friends due to her and her family.” This was the last straw in their relationship. His affair with Dimple continued.
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Speaking to ABP, Rauf Ahmed said, “That night maybe he was a bit drunk but he seemed to walk out of that place and went straight to Dimple’s house, which was nearby. He proposed to her and then they went to Khandala. When Anju learnt this, she rushed to Khandala. But she couldn’t meet him.”
After his trip to Khandala, Rajesh Khanna had decided to end his relationship with Anju. He told Stardust, “I wanted to tell Anju that everything is over between us. But when I returned from Khandala, my driver told me that Anju had left a message for me. He told me: ‘Ma’am has warned you against calling her and visiting her house, if you do so, she will have you thrown out of her house.’ She had also returned most of my stuff through the driver.” This deeply hurt Rajesh Khanna, and he ended their seven years of relationship.
Soon Rajesh Khanna married Dimple and made sure his baraat went via Anju’s residence. This too became headline. The two didn’t speak for 17 years after the actor’s marriage. Post their wedding, Dimple and Rajesh welcomed two daughters and separated in 1982.
Rajesh Khanna once again reconnected with his first love, Anju, in 1988. The actress, who never married, stayed by the actor’s side and took care of his medical needs and often accompanied him to the hospital. Anju was present throughout Rajesh Khanna’s last days and was also part of his cremation and stood by Dimple Kapadia during the tough times.
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