OP Ralhan gave Bollywood some of its biggest stars but died in financial hardship, overshadowed by the very legacy he helped create.
June-1, 2025: The Hindi film industry has a habit of celebrating its icons while letting some key figures fade into obscurity. One such name is filmmaker-actor OP Ralhan, who not only directed some of Bollywood’s most memorable films but also launched the careers of stars like Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman, and Kabir Bedi.
Despite his many contributions to cinema, OP Ralhan’s final years were marked by financial difficulties, and his name now largely survives in the memories of those he helped shape.
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A Legacy of Iconic Launches
OP Ralhan’s 1966 film Phool Aur Patthar was a milestone in Bollywood and the film that gave Dharmendra his big break. In an interview, Dharmendra recalled how his shirtless scene in the film led to him being called the “He-Man of Bollywood.”
Ralhan also worked with a young Amitabh Bachchan in the 1973 film Bandhe Haath. In one incident that Bachchan has never forgotten, Ralhan cancelled an entire day’s shoot and reprimanded Bachchan publicly for arriving half an hour late — a lesson in punctuality that stayed with the superstar for the rest of his career.
Zeenat Aman and Kabir Bedi’s Start
Zeenat Aman, another of Ralhan’s discoveries, got her start in his film Hulchul, before going on to stardom in Hare Rama Hare Krishna.
At an event in 2022 marking the inauguration of OP Ralhan Chowk in Mumbai, Zeenat shared that she received a surprise cheque from Ralhan’s production house years after his death — money that was owed to her from past collaborations.
Kabir Bedi, who also appeared in Hulchul, recently shared memories of how Ralhan operated:
“He never shared the script with me. He said, ‘Arre, mujhe story puchega? Sharm nahi aati? Mane Dharmendra ko star banaya hai. Phool Aur Patthar dekhi hai? Mujhse story maangega? Sign kar.’”
Kabir added that he and Zeenat both thought they were the leads in the film, only to realise later that OP Ralhan had cast himself as the main hero opposite Helen.
A Generous but Forgotten Man
Despite his showmanship and larger-than-life persona on sets — “Oye kabootar, idhar aa,” he would call out on set — Kabir Bedi remembered Ralhan as a man of immense heart.
“I felt very bad to know that his last days he was not in good shape financially or physically,” Bedi said in an interview with Filmfare.
OP Ralhan passed away in 1999 at the age of 74. While the intersection named after him in Bandra, Mumbai, may remind some of his contributions, the film industry and audiences at large seem to have largely forgotten the man who shaped the careers of some of its biggest names.
Tags: OP Ralhan, Dharmendra, Zeenat Aman, Kabir Bedi, Bollywood filmmakers, forgotten Bollywood icons, Phool Aur Patthar, Bandhe Haath, Hulchul, Amitabh Bachchan, Bollywood legacy, classic Bollywood cinema, old Bollywood, Bollywood history, 1960s cinema, 1970s cinema, Bollywood icons, Indian film directors, Bollywood legends, OP Ralhan legacy