Waited outside Rajesh Khanna’s house as a school girl: Reena Roy

Mumbai: Before she became one of the highest paid heroines of the 1970s and ’80s, Reena Roy says she was a typical star-struck teenager who would line-up outside Rajesh Khanna’s house to catch a glimpse of the superstar or visit the theatre to watch Jeetendra’s films.
She later worked with both Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra, forming one of the most successful on screen pairings in Hindi cinema. The actor, who turns 66 on Saturday, said she was a sensitive child who would cry at the drop of a hat when she saw her favourite stars facing injustice.
“I would wait outside Rajesh ji’s house after school to catch a glimpse of him. I would dance to the songs of Rajesh Khanna’s films and would cry and get upset when injustice was meted out to him. My mother felt so bad that she stopped taking me to movies,” Roy told PTI in an interview.
She starred opposite Khanna, one of the most popular superstars Hindi cinema ever produced, in Dhanwan, Asha Jyoti and Dharam Khanta among others. With Jeetendra, she delivered 12 superhits, most memorable being Nagin.
Reena Roy said she went blank when she met Jeetendra for the first time at the shooting of their film Jaise Ko Taisa.
“I was shocked when Jeetendra ji came in front of me, I was like, is this real? I was blank. He made me feel comfortable as we started shooting and we ended up having great rapport. Our first film together was Jaise Ko Taisa and that was a superhit movie. Nagin, and almost every film of mine with him was superhit,” Roy said. The duo also worked on films such as Umar Qaid, Udhar Ka Sindoor, Apnapan, Jeo or Jeene do, Zamanat, Arpan and Prem Tapasya.
Roy said Jeetendra has become like family thanks to their multiple on screen collaborations. She remembers him as being a health freak on movie sets.
“Over the period of years, we became like family. Jeetu ji is very punctual. He was very protective towards me. He would say eat limited food, do exercise. He was a health freak. We would not eat sweets in front of him but we would do that quietly in the makeup room.”