Mousumi Chatterjee On What Made Amitabh Bachchan Different From Rajesh Khanna

NDTV

30-05-2025

New Delhi:
Rajesh Khanna is often hailed as the "First Superstar Of India", and ruled Hindi Cinema in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Veteran actress Mousumi Chatterjee recently got candid in a conversation with Filmfare, where she spoke about the stark contrast between Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan, the latter also began to gain popularity in the 1970s.
Mousumi Chatterjee shared how Amitabh Bachchan never let stardom get to his head. Unlike Rajesh Khanna, Big B stayed grounded.
What
Mousumi Chatterjee recently spoke about the difference between superstars Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna.
She told Filmfare, "He (Rajesh Khanna) was a spoilt brat. He was a star, he had that stardom which neither Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar, nor Dev Anand had seen. Maybe for a short term, but I had witnessed it. Maintaining a mental balance is very difficult when you're such a big celebrity and you know you'll turn sand to gold when you touch it. So tantrum comes out."
Further elaborating on how Amitabh Bachchan never over-hyped his success, Mousumi Chatterjee added, " Bolte hai naa ek unpadh gunda aur padhe likhe gunda mein bohot farak hota hai. Unke gesture, behaviour, choice of words. I have never seen Amitabh with chamchas. Never seen anybody around him. But I used to see it with Rajesh. Kaka needed that attention, pampering. So, he played his life role the way he wanted. It's sad that he just fell hard after seeing that high."
About Mousumi Chatterjee
Veteran actress Mousumi Chatterjee was a big name in the film industry in the 70s. One of the highest-paid actresses in that era, she had worked with Rajesh Khanna and Big B in several films, which the audience loved.
Some of her most memorable performances include Manzil, Roti Kapada Aur Makaan, and Benaam.
Mousumi Chatterjee Films With Amitabh Bachchan And Rajesh Khanna
Some of her best films with Amitabh Bachchan include Roti, Kapada, Aur Makaan, Benaam, Manzil, and Piku.
Some of her projects with Rajesh Khanna include Prem Bandhan, Ghar Parivaar, Anuraag.
In A Nutshell
Mousumi Chatterjee opened up about what made Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan different from each other. She also spoke about how each of the superstars dealt with their stardom.