India, Nov. 25 -- Let us take a moment to mourn the passing of one of Hindi film industry's greats. His going has left a terrible void in the industry, and also in me, which can never be filled. The entire industry is distraught today.

An open-hearted and emotional man, he will always live in everyone's hearts.

I first interacted with him ahead of the making of Seeta aur Geeta (1972). He was a big star at the time, and I had to arm-twist him into playing a smaller role in the film. In a dual role, a much younger artiste Hema Malini was to have the major screen space in the film. She had just started out, having debuted in the Raj Kapoor film Sapnon ka Saudagar (1968), and had played the leading lady in Andaz (1971), opposite Rajesh Khan...