Vijayta Pandit, who won hearts with her debut film Love Story (1981) alongside Kumar Gaurav, recently opened up about the personal and professional challenges she faced after falling in love with her co-star. Their on-screen chemistry soon translated into a real-life love story but the relationship faced fierce opposition from Kumar Gaurav’s father, Rajendra Kumar, who was also the film’s producer. Rajendra Kumar was extremely upset with their growing relationship and often used to argue with his son, who kept insisting on marrying Vijayta. In a candid interview with Lehren Retro, Vijayta Pandit expresses how this opposition not only affected her love life but also led to a severe setback in her acting career.
Very few people rise to stardom, but how does it feel when their career is tragically affected soon after their first film? Vijayta Pandit’s career is one such example, where she was signed by the same person who later became the reason for her downfall. After her debut film which made her a household name, Vijayta was on track for stardom. However, soon after, her career took a downward turn due to Rajendra Kumar’s interference. Despite signing multiple films, Vijayta was suddenly dropped from projects where she had been paired opposite Kumar Gaurav. Speaking about this, Vijayta shared how audiences were eager to see the hit Love Story duo in more films together, but Rajendra Kumar ensured that this never happened.
When asked about whether Kumar Gaurav himself had advised her to stay away from films, Vijayta set the record straight. She clarified, “Bunty ne! Actually kya hua tha, jitni bhi uski filmein thi Lovers, Romance” and further recalled, “Romance movie ke liye Ramanand Sagar ji ne muje phone kiya tha, ‘Meri film ban rahi hai, main love story bana raha hu, main chahta hu tumm kaam karo usme’ I replied him saying, ‘Uncle, main kaam karungi’. I agreed to do, muje kaam karna tha aur jo bhi film tha Teri Kasam, Lovers, Romance usme toh main hi heroine thi.”
One incident that particularly stands out is a film titled Raahi, for which Vijayta even shot 10 days with Kumar Gaurav in Goa. But after those 10 days, Rajendra Kumar intervened and removed her from the project. Vijayta Pandit expresses her frustration, saying, “He is the main person jinhone Bunty (Kumar Gaurav) ke saath muje kaam karne hi nahi diya”.
Even after producers regularly approached Rajendra Kumar, urging him to cast Vijayta and Gaurav in films because their pairing had been so successful. However, Rajendra Kumar remained firm in his words, telling producers, “He said, ‘HEROINE SE PICTURE HIT NAHI HOTI HAI, HERO SE HOTI HAI’”. Vijayta, further added by revealing how he tried casting every popular heroine, including Poonam Dhillon, Padmini Kolhapure, Rati Agnihotri and even brought in South Indian actress Amala Akkineni including he also invested all the box office earnings from Love Story into casting Madhuri Dixit, then the highest-paid actress, for the film Phool, which later turned out to be a disaster. Vijayta expressed her pain, sharing how Rajendra Kumar cast every other actress but never allowed her to work opposite Kumar Gaurav.
Despite Rajendra Kumar’s stubbornness and efforts to find an alternative heroine, Vijayta was never given another opportunity to work opposite Kumar Gaurav. Her disappointment is evident as she reflects on how her career could have flourished if she hadn’t been deliberately sidelined.
In the interview, Vijayta also spoke about the struggles in her singing career. She revealed that even when she recorded songs, her voice would be dubbed over by other singers, which further added to her frustration.
Vijayta Pandit expresses the emotional toll this took on her, as she was denied the chance to showcase her talent, both as an actress and a singer. Watch the full interview below for detailed insights.
