Mumtaz

......Her rivalry with Sharmila was the most talked about… “The difference between us was that Sharmila gave flops with Rajesh Khanna while I gave none! I was always secure with Rajesh Khanna. Nobody could replace me. Though Sharmila did give a couple of hits with him, it didn’t really bother me. No actress, not even Sharmila could threaten me. When I gave up films, Rajesh and I were the top most pair. He felt very lost when I quit films ” What was her association with the superstar like? “Just because you do a lot of films together and vibe well, that doesn’t mean you are having an affair,” exclaims Mumtaz. “I am sure Juhi and Shah Rukh have nothing to do with each other but there are rumours of an involve­ment, which I don’t think are true. Similarly, my friend­ship with Rajesh Khanna was also misunderstood. He was my neighbour and we got along very well. I would pull his leg and tease him about his female fan following. When­ever Rajesh entered a hotel in Madras, there was a queue of 600 girls waiting to see him at midnight! As a result, even I would get some importance, as people would ask for my autograph as well,” laughs Mumtaz. Isn’t that a modest statement considering she was no less of a superstar at the time? “I was not a patch on Rajesh Khanna. He was a phe­nomenon and I was like his chamchi,” giggles Mumtaz. “I teased him a lot and he always called me ‘moti’, as I was generally on the plump side. I attended his wedding too. After their marriage, Dimple accompanied him to Kash­mir where we were shooting for Roti. Exactly a year after his marriage, I got married. At that time, I was doing Aap Ki Kasam, Roti and Prem Kahani. I completed these films and then got married. I didn’t leave any of my pro­ducers in the lurch.”......

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