Rajesh Khanna has passed away but his legacy lives on. Here's a look at the journey of Bollywood's original heartthrob.
Rajesh Khanna, the actor who became Bollywood's first superstar with a
sequence of film hits in the 70's, passed away in his Mumbai house on
Wednesday. He was 69. Khanna was also a former Lok Sabha MP.
His funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, family sources said.The
69-year-old actor had been enduring health problems for years and was
frequently admitted to hospital in the last few months.
Kaka, as he was generally known, is live through by wife Dimple Kapadia and children Twinkle and Rinke.
Scores of worried fans collected outside his 'Aashirwad' home on Carter Road in Bandra on Wednesday following the information.
The expert actor had been enduring health problems for years and was regularly admitted to Hopital in the last few months.
In April, he was admitted to hospital due to weak point and fatigue but
was discharged in three to four days. He was again rushed to the
Lilavati Hospital June 23 and discharged after being handled for two
weeks.
A week later he was again taken to the hospital after he reported of weakness, but was discharged soon after.
Rajesh started his profession with "Aakhri Khat" in 1966. He became a
celebrity like no other with his perform in hits like "Aradhana", "Do
Raaste", "Safar" and "Anand". He was last seen in a TV professional for
Havells fans a few months ago.
Rajesh Khanna, whose romantic persona in songs like 'Mere sapno ki
raani', 'O mere dil ke chain' and 'Roop tera mastana' made many a young
woman's heart skip a beat, was Hindi film world's first actor to attain
superstar status.
His mannerism, his unique style of dancing, dialogue delivery and
gestures added to his onscreen persona and have been imitated countless
number of times.
At the peak of his career, Khanna, popularly called Kaka, would be
mobbed during public appearances as fans kissed his car, which would be
covered with lipstick marks. They lined the road, cheering and chanting
his name. Female fans sent him letters written in blood.
His predecessors Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar broke hearts in their
time no doubt, but the hysteria connected with Khanna was unprecedented.
Born as Jatin Khanna on December 29, 1942, he was adopted and raised
by foster parents. He began taking interest in acting while in school
and performed in a number of plays. It was his uncle who changed
Khanna's first name to Rajesh when he decided to join films.
In 1965, he won an all India talent contest organised by United
Producers and Filmfare and as a result made his debut the next year in
"Aakhri Khat", directed by Chetan Anand. His second film "Raaz" was also
a part of his predetermined prize for winning the competition.
He found success with films like "Baharon Ke Sapne", "Aurat", "Doli"
and "Ittefaq", but it was the 1969 film "Aradhana" opposite Sharmila
Tagore that catapulted Khanna to superstardom.
The film also saw the resurgence of Kishore Kumar, who eventually
became the official playback voice of Khanna and the actor-singer duo
delivered a number of hit songs subsequently, memorable among them being
'Mere sapno ki raani', 'Roop tera mastana', 'Kuch to log kahenge' and
'Jai jai shiv shankar'.
After "Aradhana", "Haathi Mere Saathi" (1971) became the biggest hit
and also the biggest grosser ever till then. Khanna appeared in 163
feature films of which 106 had him as the solo lead hero and 22 were two
hero projects. He had 15 consecutive solo superhits between 1969 and
1972, which is still an unbroken record in Indian film history.
He won three Filmfare Best Actor Awards and was nominated for the
same fourteen times. He was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement
Award in 2005.
Despite his heartthrob status, Khanna played a variety of roles - the
terminally ill Anand, a chef in "Bawarchi", a lonely husband in "Amar
Prem", and a psychiatric patient in "Khamoshi".
He worked with the best of the talents of his time, be it directors,
actresses and composers. Sharmila Tagore and Mumtaz became his leading
ladies in many films including "Amar Prem" and "Aap Ki Kasam".
Directors like Shakti Samanta, Yash Chopra, Manmohan Desai,
Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Ramesh Sippy worked with Khanna. His films'
music made them more memorable, with the trio of composer R D Burman,
Kishore and he himself working together in more than 30 films.
The commercial success of his films declined during 1976–78. After
1978, Khanna starred in critically acclaimed films such as "Amado",
"Phir Wohi Raat", "Dard", "Dhanwan", "Avtaar" and "Agar Tum Na Hote".
If Khanna's rise to fame was meteoric, so was his fall from stardom.
By the late 80s his charm at the box office had waned but it did not
affect his personal charisma. He held a Lok Sabha seat as a Congressman
from 1992 to 1996.
His enigmatic personality not only charmed his fans but also led to
him into relationships with three Bollywood actresses in their heydays.
Khanna was in a long-term relationship with Anju Mahendru in the early
'70s, and later went on to marry Dimple Kapadia, 15 years younger to
him, in 1973. They have two daughters - Twinkle and Rinke - who followed
their parents into showbiz.
Dimple split from the actor in 1984. Though they lived separately,
the couple never completed divorce formalities. Khanna was also
romantically involved with his "Souten" co-star Tina Munim (now Ambani).
The pair starred together in films like "Fiffty Fiffty", "Bewafai",
"Suraag", "Insaaf Main Karoonga" and "Adhikar".
