"Rekha, Please Return My Money": Ranjeet Says Couldn't Tolerate "Tantrums"

Film veteran Rekha, who was one of the highest-paid actresses during her time, was once hired by actor Ranjeet to act in his film. But things didn't materialise the way the actor wanted. 

There came a time when Ranjeet asked Rekha to return the signing amount as he couldn't tolerate her "tantrums."

Ranjeet recalled the anecdotes and shared his changing equation with Rekha in an interview with Vickey Lalwani. When Ranjeet was not happy with the offers he was getting, he wanted to make his own films. 

"I didn't sign films for almost a decade. I used to get frustrated. When I started to make films, irrespective of the bond I shared with the actors, I would pay them for their work. Although they used to hesitate to take money from me, I would insist," Ranjeet said.

"Similarly, I told Rekha too, that you are my friend and everything but if I am signing you for a film, I want you to quote me an amount and I will pay you and she did. Later, I realised that someone else who also signed her for one of their films were paying her Rs 5 lakh less than what she had quoted to me," recalled the actor, mostly known for his negative role.

Ranjeet also revealed that Rekha would make producers wait outside her house for hours and even after that she wouldn't meet them. 

"I knew she would make producers line up outside her house and wouldn't meet them. When I was narrating the story to her, I had my whole team waiting outside, she didn't let them in. I talked to her about it, but she said, 'let them all wait outside'. Only Farzana would go take messages from them and convey it to her, she wouldn't meet anybody," recalled the senior actor.

Ranjeet wanted to shoot his film songs in the evenings while Rekha was reluctant as she wanted to be free by the evenings. This was another point of contention that cast a shadow of uncertainty over their film.

"She was doing a film at this time so she told me we will do day for night shoot. I brutally told her, I am making this film for me and not you. I realised that she would soon treat me like the other producers. So, before she could get to that point, I politely asked her to return my signing amount. I said, 'Rekha, please return me my money, I can't make this picture with you.' It all happened on a friendly note," reminisced the actor. 

"Rekha had a lot of tantrums," Ranjeet didn't hold himself back from expressing his dissatisfaction of working with her.

Ranjeet is known for his negative characters on screen. He worked in films like Parchhaiyan, Bhai Ho To Aisa, Mr. Romeo, Farebi, to name a few.

Rekha and Ranjeet together worked in films like Yaarana, Bulandi, Suhaag, Nagin, Dharmatma, Khoon Pasina among others.