Veteran actor Sanjay Khan says he has enjoyed several long-lasting friendships in Bollywood but believes the equation among the current crop of actors is so superficial that they are ready to "backbite" anytime.
Khan says these things existed in the industry in his heyday but there was elegance and class.
"The value of friendships among the current reigning lot pains me. It is superficial. It's just to show courtesy. The extra hugs and the taps on the back, you can smell hypocrisy from one mile away, that they don't have anything in common," Khan told PTI in an interview.
"The moment they turn around, they backbite. This is a downside of the film industry. In those days we could say it was like this too but it had elegance, some class, respect. Now there is naked aggression," he adds.
Khan says the reason for the downfall of quality relationships between people in the industry could be "material gain."
"In those days, the parity of money was more or less the same. Today with changing times and too much of money and politics in films, (there is a) dog-eat-dog mentality."
Khan, 78, recalls how Dharmendra came to visit him in the hospital and was "crying like a boy."
"But Dharmendra was crying like a boy. He kept on saying, 'My friend, I'm with you.' That was the friendship I shared with him. I shared an extremely long and close friendship with Raj Kapoor and Sanjeev Kumar among others."
"I had 65 per cent third degree burns, 52 of my crew lost their lives. I've carried this pain for a long time. Only seven months after the accident, I was informed about it."
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