Raza Murad On Rumours Of Rajesh Khanna Slapping Him Over Dimple Kapadia: "Baseless"

Veteran actor Raza Murad recently addressed a decades-old rumour involving himself, late superstar Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia. 

What's Happening

• Speaking on The Filmy Charcha podcast, Raza Murad firmly denied any truth to the speculation that he was involved in a confrontation with Rajesh Khanna over Dimple Kapadia.
• Rajesh Khanna married Dimple Kapadia in 1973, shortly before the release of her debut film Bobby, directed by Raj Kapoor. 
• At the time, rumours had circulated that Kapadia was often seen spending time with fellow actor Raza Murad.
• Murad recalled, "There used to be a film newspaper called Urvashi. It was written there that Raza Murad and Dimple Kapadia came to Film City in the same car. Rajesh Khanna was shooting there. When he began talking to Dimple, Raza asked her to leave with him, leading to Rajesh Khanna slapping Raza Murad."
• He dismissed the incident, stating, "Neither I ever went to Film City with Dimple, nor such a situation ever happened, and never have Dimple Kapadia, Rajesh Khanna, and Raza Murad ever been in the same spot together. We used to shoot separately with Kakaji (Khanna) and Dimple. This baseless rumour didn't have even 1% truth in it. It was a 100% lie."

Background 

Raza Murad also mentioned meeting the journalist who wrote the piece at a party later on. 

"I didn't even make a mention of that to them. I just met them like the way I always did. Because when you're at someone's party, you don't have the right to ruin that. It was possible I'd have entered into an argument, or even a brawl, with them, since they made such a damaging allegation towards me. But since it was someone else's party, there shouldn't be any bitterness or misbehaviour there. So I remained completely normal," he said.

Over the years, Murad worked with Dimple Kapadia in several films, including Janbaaz (1986), Aag Ka Gola (1989), Pyaar Ke Naam Qurbaan (1990), Gunaah (1993), and Pathreela Rasta (1994). He also shared screen space with Khanna in projects such as Namak Haraam (1973), Tyaag (1977), Tinku (1977), Oonche Log (1985), Adhikar (1986), Begunaah (1991), and Riyasat (2014).

Dimple Kapadia and RajeshKhanna separated in 1984, though their divorce was finalised only in 2012, the same year Khanna died. 

Kapadia had taken a break from acting after her marriage but made a strong comeback in the 1980s and continues to appear in films and web shows. The couple had two daughters, Twinkle Khanna and Rinke Khanna, both of whom were actors before moving on to other pursuits.