When Dharmendra was upset over Rajesh Khanna’s casting in Anand, drunk dialled Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Late actor Rajesh Khanna reached a new height of popularity with the release of Anand. He played the role of a cancer patient, alongside Amitabh Bachchan. While the film continues to receive much love from cinephiles, not many would know that Dharmendra wanted to do the film too.

The actor, who had previously worked with director Hrishikesh Mukherjee in Satyakam, had revealed that he had heard the script on a flight and wanted to do it. However, when he learned that Rajesh Khanna was cast in the film, he drunk dialled Hrishikesh Mukherjee to express his disappointment.

During an episode of The Kapil Sharma Show in 2019, Dharmendra revealed, “Hrishida had told me a story on a flight, Anand. While coming from Bangalore, he said to me that ‘we were going to do this’ and ‘we were going to do that’. And later, I found out that the movie had started rolling with Rajesh Khanna in the lead role.”

After learning about the casting, Dharmendra called Hrishikesh through the night. “I didn’t let Hrishida sleep the whole night. I told him, ‘You were going to give me the role, you told me the story, then why did you give him the film?’ He kept telling me, ‘Dharam, go to sleep, we will talk in the morning.’ He would cut the line and I would call him back asking, ‘Why did you give him the role?’” he said.

Although Hrishikesh and Dharmendra couldn’t collaborate on Anand, they worked in Chupke Chupke and Guddi later.

Also read: Hrithik Roshan remembers Jadoo from Koi Mil Gaya: ‘I wonder how he would look like today’

Dharmendra has appeared in a handful of movies in recent years. He was last seen in Yamla Pagla Deewana: Phir Se, alongside his sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol. The actor recently signed Karan Johar’s directorial comeback Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani. The actor will play Ranveer Singh’s father in the film. Dharmendra also has Apne 2 in the pipeline.