Mumtaz on Rajesh Khanna's failed relationship with Anju Mahendru, his marriage with Dimple Kapadia: 'Kaka would still have been alive if...'

Rajesh Khanna was in the relationship with actress Anju Mahendru for seven years before he suddenly tied the knot with Dimple Kapadia in March 1973 even before her debut film Bobby opposite Rishi Kapoor was released in September that year. At the time of their marriage, Rajesh was 31, while Dimple was just 15. Khanna's co-star Mumtaz, with whom he gave several box office hits, has opened up about the late actor's failed relationship with Anju, and his marriage with Dimple, in her latest interview. Mumtaz even went on to state that Rajesh Khanna would have still been alive today if he would have remained with Anju Mahendru and not marry Dimple Kapadia.

Talking to Vickey Lalwani, when Mumtaz was asked if she ever dated Khanna, she said, "I wish I was involved with him, but I wasn’t. I missed the boat, I’d say. I’ve denied this a 1000 times, but if people keep insisting that there was something between us, all I can do is say, 'I wish...'". Speaking about Rajesh and Anju's doomed romance, Mumtaz added, "Anju was a very good host. When I got married, my husband and I would go to their house, and they’d be very generous as hosts. They’d drink, Kaka would drink. I knew that they love each other very much. In fact, I was surprised when I learnt that he had left her and gotten married to Dimple. I didn’t expect it at all. Even today, I’d say that Kaka might have still bee alive had he stayed with Anju. She looked after him like he was a flower. Even when he was ill, she always used to be in the bungalow. She always used to look after him, his food, his 'dawai-daaru.' She was a wonderful person. But you can’t escape destiny."

The Ram Aur Shyam actress also shared how did Anju react when she got to know about Rajesh's wedding with Dimple. "I asked her, and she said, 'I don’t know. I was at a party, and the next thing I know is that he had decided to get married.' She’s a proud woman, she’s very happy. It didn’t bother her that her boyfriend of so many years had left her. She didn’t want to mope over him. She must’ve been hurt, of course, but it wasn’t like she was howling in grief", Mumtaz stated.

Anju Mahendra was briefly engaged to the legendary West Indies cricketer Gary Sobers. After Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia's marriage, she started dating actor Imtiaz Khan, but broke up with him after seven years. Anju never married in her life.

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