Have been inspired by his work: Priya Paramita Paul on Rajesh Khanna

Model, actress, and life coach Priya Paramita Paul confessed that she still enjoys watching late Rajesh Khanna’s movies. She feels they are timeless classics and revealed that he is her inspiration.

Speaking on the superstar’s 80th birth anniversary, she said, “I wish Rajesh Khanna was alive right now as I would have definitely tried to meet him. I have been inspired by his work. I just enjoy his films, the character, and the person that he used to portray on-screen. I have watched almost all of his films. Some memorable ones are ‘Anand’, ‘Kati Patang’, ‘Aradhana’, and ‘Mere Jeevan Saathi’.”

“I feel even his songs and dialogues are so famous. Honestly, I like his movies because they are classics. It connects me to my childhood when I didn’t even know what acting was. I used to feel it was real life and I would dream and wish for such kinds of things to happen in my life. They have a different place in my life. I wish I could have met him. He will be alive with the image of a pleasant person,” she added.

Sharing her thoughts on the rise and fall Rajesh Khanna saw in his lifetime, Priya said, “When I started enjoying my company I started talking to myself, and counseling myself when I was alone. I felt going out and meeting people without a motive was a waste of my time, because we were not doing anything productive. So I realised that instead, I should work on myself.”

“I feel people should utilise their time for themselves and their success and to achieve their dreams. Therefore, I believe most successful people spend a lot of time achieving their success and they start getting involved with themselves more to focus more on their dream and their success. I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” she added.

Sharing her thoughts on how being successful can lead to solitude, she said, “It completely depends on the perspective. When I lost everything in my life (in 2016-17), when nothing was working in my life, and when my ex-husband left me, I was alone. People used to not even visit me. I was completely abandoned and boycotted and that was the time I felt sorry for myself for being lonely, not having anyone, and being the most unlucky person in the world. But over the years my loneliness has become my blessing.”

“Now I enjoy my time when I go home. I can now go to a restaurant and eat alone. I can do so many things because I enjoy my company. I remember when I was trying to learn about life there was a statement from Sadhguru. He said how can you expect that people will enjoy your company when you yourself cannot enjoy yours. And that really hit me. And that’s when I started working on it. If you start to understand that you need to love yourself first and be yourself to do everything, you will count it as a blessing. It doesn’t matter how people look at you. That’s my belief,” Priya added.