Actor Vijayta Pandit reflects on her career post-Love Story, the 1981 film starring Kumar Gaurav. She claims Rajendra Kumar had her removed from films, impacting both her and Kumar Gaurav’s chances for success in Bollywood.
Veteran actor Vijayta Pandit, who became an overnight star after the release of the 1981 film Love Story opposite Kumar Gaurav, recently opened up about her tumultuous career in Bollywood. Despite the film’s success, Vijayta struggled to deliver another hit because she claims Kumar’s father and popular actor Rajendra Kumar got her removed from films after learning about her and Kumar’s off-screen romance.
Vijayta and Kumar Gaurav fell in love on the set of Love Story, and despite being engaged to Raj Kapoor’s daughter, he wanted to marry Vijayta.
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Vijayta recalled how renowned filmmaker Ramanand Sagar had plans to work with her on a film titled Romance, but she was replaced by Poonam Dhillon. She also shot for ten days on a film called Rahi in Goa. However, she claimed that Rajendra Kumar got her removed from the film.
“Rajendra ji got me removed from all the films,” Pandit said in an interview with Lehren Retro. “He is the main person who didn’t let me work with Bunty (Kumar Gaurav). All the producers would say they want to cast Bunty and me; it is a hit pair. But Rajendra ji would say, ‘Heroine se picture nahi banti hai (a film doesn’t become a hit because of a heroine), it is a hit because of the hero.’ He would suggest other actresses like Poonam Dhillon, Padmini Kolhapure, and Rati Agnihotri instead.”
