Rajesh Khanna and R. D. Burman shared a legandary, profound friendship that transcended their professional success.
Their friendship started when they were flying to New Delhi for the screening of Baharon Ke Sapne (1967) and lasted till the passing away of R.D. Burman.
They had a great mutual understanding which could be seen in their associations. Burman’s music is often considered the soul of Khanna’s stardom while the actor provided perfect musical expressions to the composer’s tunes.
Together with Kishore Kumar, they formed one of the most iconic creative trios in Indian cinema history. The result, some timeless melodies in films mainly Kati Patang, Amar Prem, Aap Ki Kasam and Mere Jeevan Saathi.
Both treated each other with deep respect and stood by each other particularly when Khanna offered support and films to Burman during low phase of his career.
Later on, Khanna even defended Burman’s musical legacy urging artists not to ruin aur remix his original compositions.
Burman had always been an emotional support for Khanna and Khanna’s unwavering loyalty towards the composer was even seen when their careers had faded out. When Burman needed a bypass heart surgery in 1989, Khanna was so concerned that he visited him in London. The conversation they had there was something unique. Khanna told that he was looking for Burman in the recording studio, and when he was told that Burman is in London, he landed there.
Burman replied that he had no work, so he thought he should go through the surgery. Observing the sad expression of “no work” on Burman’s face, Khanna boosted him by saying that he had observed his heart during the surgery and wanted to inform him that Burman's ’s heart was larger than most people and would always be.
A bonding that was not just professional.
Image(s) Courtesy: Google