Rajesh Khanna
Date of Death
18 July 2012, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India (cancer)
RK
Shehzada
The Original King of Romance
Rajesh Khanna, the superstar of Indian Cinema, entered Hindi films in the latter half of the 1960s and did 180 films - 163 feature films and 17 short films. By 2011, he held record for maximum number of films as the solo lead hero and least number of multi star cast films in Hindi Cinema. Of the 163 films 106 were solo hero films and 22 were multi star films. He first tasted success with hit films like Baharoan Ke Sapne, Raaz and Aurat and he was appreciated for his performances in Aakhri Khat.Rajesh Khanna achieved super-stardom with Shakti Samantha's 'Aradhana" (1969).He became the craze of the nation, and critics across India started calling him the First Superstar of both Indian Cinema (No. 1 Actor) and Hindi Films and remained so alone as the Superstar for 7 years (1969-1975) and had to share the status with Amitabh from 1977-1991 till he left films to join politics in 1991.He overtook his predecessors Dev-Dilip-Raj, Shammi Kapoor,Rajendra Kumar in terms of popularity with audience and critics, quality of performances, variety of films by doing quickly 41 films in 9 years which included 35 Golden Jubilee Hits and 2 silver silver jubilee hits from 1966-1975. He also made the world record of having 17 successive super-hits in 3 years from 1969-71 which included 15 consecutive solo super-hit films. The main difference between him and his predecessors,successors, contemporaries was that Khanna's films ran successfully in whole of India and not just Hindi speaking areas and he did films of every genre simultaneously and has more critically acclaimed films to his credit than all other Hindi Actors of every generation. He stands out even by selection of his films as he regularly did both offbeat alternate cinema along with commercial potboiler films and had success in both.He introduced intelligent cinema to the masses with ease.
Anju Mahendru was his girl friend in 1966-1972, the then aspiring actress but they had breakup in 1972 when Anju was not ready for marriage and Khanna married his fan Dimple Kapadia in March 1973, 8 months before Raj Kapoor's Bobby released in theaters.
Khanna's pairing with Mumtaz always produced much success as they had all of their 8 films together as major platinum jubilee hits.His films with Sharmila Tagore, Asha Parekh and Zeenat Aman was a favorite with audiences too in 70's.
From 1976 onwards till 1978, he had 4 box office hits and 9 films flopped unexpectedly although his performances and the film's music were praised by critics and thereby his successful run at the box office ended.
Khanna bounced back with Amardeep and then again started giving many critically acclaimed and commercially successful films including 35 Golden Jubilee Hits and 16 SJH starting from 1979 till 1991. K.Balaji wanted to establish himself in Hindi film industry as a producer and thereby wanted to remake his Tamil film Sivaji Ganeshan starer Dheepam in Hindi. At a time when Khanna's films were not working at the box office, Khanna got this film out of the blue and went on to become a big hit.In the 80's his films opposite Tina Munim, Hema Malini, Reena Roy, Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil and Poonam Dhillon were big hits.
He produced three films and co-produced 3 films. He left film industry in 1991 and entered politics by joining the Congress Party in 1991 and became a member of parliament. Khanna was awarded Filmfare Special award in 1991 for having starred in 101 films as the solo lead hero and just 21 two hero films having appeared in 153 films in short span of 25 years. He is still adored and fondly remembered by the masses. Songs from his films adorn the lips of youth and adolescents. He was the first mega-star and has left behind a storehouse of the finest moments in film history.
New Delhi: In the 100-year history of Bollywood, Rajesh Khanna, now 69, stands out as the first real superstar.
In an era when cinema was still governed by the rules of the big studios, Mr Khanna was a supernova, the first of his kind. Film lore says the mere sight of him caused women to faint, slash their wrists and send him letters written in blood. His predecessors Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar had broken hearts in their time, but the hysteria that followed in Rajesh Khanna's wake was entirely unprecedented. His hairstyle and distinctive kurta was imitated by a generation of young men. His sideways nod and very particular style of delivering his lines were likewise admired and adopted. But Rajesh Khanna was much more than the sum of his mannerisms.
Born in Amritsar in 1942, Rajesh Khanna, birth name Jatin and nicknamed Kaka, was adopted by relatives of his biological parents, who moved him to Girgaum, a suburb of Mumbai. He went to school and college with his great friend Ravi Kapoor, who was to become the actor Jeetendra. The young Rajesh dabbled in theatre, winning many inter college drama competitions. In 1965, he won the All India Talent Contest organized by Filmfare and United Producers, and debuted in Chetan Anand's Aakhri Khat the next year. Under contract with United Producers, he appeared in a string of films produced by the studio and each performance elevated him just that little bit more into national consciousness, until he was finally propelled to superstardom in Aradhana (1969).
Aradhana, which co-starred Sharmila Tagore, was remarkable in many ways. Rajesh Khanna's carefree charm in the song Mere Sapnon Ki Rani made him irresistible to audiences, as did the simmering Roop Tera Mastana. He pulled off a double role with aplomb, and proved equally adept at playing the romantic hero as well as the tragic. It was also the beginning of two long and successful partnerships - with heroine Sharmila Tagore, and with singer Kishore Kumar.
Hit after hit followed, among them the cult Haathi Mere Saathi,Khamoshi, Kati Patang, Anand and Amar Prem. He won three Filmfare awards as well as the Lifetime Achievement, among other honours.
Despite his heartthrob status, Rajesh Khanna played a variety of roles - the terminally ill Anand, a canny chef in Bawarchi, a lonely husband in Amar Prem, and a psychiatric patient inKhamoshi. He was one half of several smash hit screen jodis, with actresses Sharmila Tagore, Mumtaz, Tina Munim, Asha Parekh and Hema Malini. He had the most memorable dialogues, the superhit songs and the biggest films of his time, dominating the Seventies in every way.
By this time, Rajesh Khanna fans lined roads as he drove by and kissed his car as it passed. Mumtaz remembers an occasion when they arrived in Chennai at midnight, to find the hotel mobbed by some 600 odd women. According to Sharmila Tagore, female fans "married" photographs of Mr Khanna and he required police protection in public. A famous scene from Amar Prem, set against the Howrah Bridge in Kolkata, could not actually be shot on location because authorities feared the bridge itself would collapse under the weight of the gathered fans. Possibly, not even Amitabh Bachchan mania or Shah Rukh Khan fever have matched the fan frenzy that surrounded Rajesh Khanna in his prime.
Rajesh Khanna's fall from cinematic grace, when it came, was almost as meteoric as his rise to fame. One moment he was playing to packed houses, the next moment he was starring in B grade films with names like Wafaa and Goraa. Rishi Kapoor replaced him as the new loverboy, and action movies dislodged romance and drama as box office catnip. Rajesh Khanna was well past 40 when his star began to wane. He had spent over 20 years at the top of the filmy food chain.
By the late 80s, he was a dim star in the Bollywood constellation, and by the Nineties he had burnt out altogether. But if his filmy fortunes were slipping, his personal charisma was unchanged. He rmarshalled his forces in the direction of politics, holding a Lok Sabha seat as a Congressman from 1992 to 1996. He remains active on behalf of the Congress.
Mr Khanna now features as the father of the hero or heroine in an odd movie here and there, and has appeared in some television serials.
Off screen, Rajesh Khanna's private life was distinctly bohemian. Early in his career, he conducted a seven-year-long live in relationship with actress Anju Mahendru. At the height of his fame, in 1973, he married 16- year-old Dimple Kapadia who had only just made a searing bikini-clad debut in teen romance Bobby. He was almost 16 years older than her when they married. 11 years and two daughters later, they divorced in 1984. There were also rumoured affairs with co-stars Mumtaz and Tina Munim. Any bad blood between Mr Khanna and ex-wife Dimple is now a thing of the past, and they often make public appearances with the family - daughters Twinkle and Rinke, and sons-in-law Akshay Kumar and Sameer Saran.
Mr Khanna's health has been the subject of concern for some time now. He was hospitalized in April, and is now believed to be unwell again. The reason for his ill health is not clear. Worried fans lined up outside his home in Mumbai's upscale Bandra neighbourhood. On June 21, as son-in-law Akshay Kumar thanked them for their concern, saying Mr Khanna was "more than fine," the erstwhile superstar himself appeared on the balcony, visibly weak and wearing dark glasses, to give the waiting crowd the victory sign.
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Date of Birth
29 December 1942, Amritsar, Punjab, British India (now India)Date of Death
18 July 2012, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India (cancer)
Birth Name
Jatin Chunnilal KhannaNickname
KakaRK
Shehzada
The Original King of Romance
Height
5' 9" (1.75 m)
Mini BiographyRajesh Khanna, the superstar of Indian Cinema, entered Hindi films in the latter half of the 1960s and did 180 films - 163 feature films and 17 short films. By 2011, he held record for maximum number of films as the solo lead hero and least number of multi star cast films in Hindi Cinema. Of the 163 films 106 were solo hero films and 22 were multi star films. He first tasted success with hit films like Baharoan Ke Sapne, Raaz and Aurat and he was appreciated for his performances in Aakhri Khat.Rajesh Khanna achieved super-stardom with Shakti Samantha's 'Aradhana" (1969).He became the craze of the nation, and critics across India started calling him the First Superstar of both Indian Cinema (No. 1 Actor) and Hindi Films and remained so alone as the Superstar for 7 years (1969-1975) and had to share the status with Amitabh from 1977-1991 till he left films to join politics in 1991.He overtook his predecessors Dev-Dilip-Raj, Shammi Kapoor,Rajendra Kumar in terms of popularity with audience and critics, quality of performances, variety of films by doing quickly 41 films in 9 years which included 35 Golden Jubilee Hits and 2 silver silver jubilee hits from 1966-1975. He also made the world record of having 17 successive super-hits in 3 years from 1969-71 which included 15 consecutive solo super-hit films. The main difference between him and his predecessors,successors, contemporaries was that Khanna's films ran successfully in whole of India and not just Hindi speaking areas and he did films of every genre simultaneously and has more critically acclaimed films to his credit than all other Hindi Actors of every generation. He stands out even by selection of his films as he regularly did both offbeat alternate cinema along with commercial potboiler films and had success in both.He introduced intelligent cinema to the masses with ease.
Anju Mahendru was his girl friend in 1966-1972, the then aspiring actress but they had breakup in 1972 when Anju was not ready for marriage and Khanna married his fan Dimple Kapadia in March 1973, 8 months before Raj Kapoor's Bobby released in theaters.
Khanna's pairing with Mumtaz always produced much success as they had all of their 8 films together as major platinum jubilee hits.His films with Sharmila Tagore, Asha Parekh and Zeenat Aman was a favorite with audiences too in 70's.
From 1976 onwards till 1978, he had 4 box office hits and 9 films flopped unexpectedly although his performances and the film's music were praised by critics and thereby his successful run at the box office ended.
Khanna bounced back with Amardeep and then again started giving many critically acclaimed and commercially successful films including 35 Golden Jubilee Hits and 16 SJH starting from 1979 till 1991. K.Balaji wanted to establish himself in Hindi film industry as a producer and thereby wanted to remake his Tamil film Sivaji Ganeshan starer Dheepam in Hindi. At a time when Khanna's films were not working at the box office, Khanna got this film out of the blue and went on to become a big hit.In the 80's his films opposite Tina Munim, Hema Malini, Reena Roy, Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil and Poonam Dhillon were big hits.
He produced three films and co-produced 3 films. He left film industry in 1991 and entered politics by joining the Congress Party in 1991 and became a member of parliament. Khanna was awarded Filmfare Special award in 1991 for having starred in 101 films as the solo lead hero and just 21 two hero films having appeared in 153 films in short span of 25 years. He is still adored and fondly remembered by the masses. Songs from his films adorn the lips of youth and adolescents. He was the first mega-star and has left behind a storehouse of the finest moments in film history.
New Delhi: In the 100-year history of Bollywood, Rajesh Khanna, now 69, stands out as the first real superstar.
In an era when cinema was still governed by the rules of the big studios, Mr Khanna was a supernova, the first of his kind. Film lore says the mere sight of him caused women to faint, slash their wrists and send him letters written in blood. His predecessors Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar had broken hearts in their time, but the hysteria that followed in Rajesh Khanna's wake was entirely unprecedented. His hairstyle and distinctive kurta was imitated by a generation of young men. His sideways nod and very particular style of delivering his lines were likewise admired and adopted. But Rajesh Khanna was much more than the sum of his mannerisms.
Born in Amritsar in 1942, Rajesh Khanna, birth name Jatin and nicknamed Kaka, was adopted by relatives of his biological parents, who moved him to Girgaum, a suburb of Mumbai. He went to school and college with his great friend Ravi Kapoor, who was to become the actor Jeetendra. The young Rajesh dabbled in theatre, winning many inter college drama competitions. In 1965, he won the All India Talent Contest organized by Filmfare and United Producers, and debuted in Chetan Anand's Aakhri Khat the next year. Under contract with United Producers, he appeared in a string of films produced by the studio and each performance elevated him just that little bit more into national consciousness, until he was finally propelled to superstardom in Aradhana (1969).
Aradhana, which co-starred Sharmila Tagore, was remarkable in many ways. Rajesh Khanna's carefree charm in the song Mere Sapnon Ki Rani made him irresistible to audiences, as did the simmering Roop Tera Mastana. He pulled off a double role with aplomb, and proved equally adept at playing the romantic hero as well as the tragic. It was also the beginning of two long and successful partnerships - with heroine Sharmila Tagore, and with singer Kishore Kumar.
Hit after hit followed, among them the cult Haathi Mere Saathi,Khamoshi, Kati Patang, Anand and Amar Prem. He won three Filmfare awards as well as the Lifetime Achievement, among other honours.
Despite his heartthrob status, Rajesh Khanna played a variety of roles - the terminally ill Anand, a canny chef in Bawarchi, a lonely husband in Amar Prem, and a psychiatric patient inKhamoshi. He was one half of several smash hit screen jodis, with actresses Sharmila Tagore, Mumtaz, Tina Munim, Asha Parekh and Hema Malini. He had the most memorable dialogues, the superhit songs and the biggest films of his time, dominating the Seventies in every way.
By this time, Rajesh Khanna fans lined roads as he drove by and kissed his car as it passed. Mumtaz remembers an occasion when they arrived in Chennai at midnight, to find the hotel mobbed by some 600 odd women. According to Sharmila Tagore, female fans "married" photographs of Mr Khanna and he required police protection in public. A famous scene from Amar Prem, set against the Howrah Bridge in Kolkata, could not actually be shot on location because authorities feared the bridge itself would collapse under the weight of the gathered fans. Possibly, not even Amitabh Bachchan mania or Shah Rukh Khan fever have matched the fan frenzy that surrounded Rajesh Khanna in his prime.
Rajesh Khanna's fall from cinematic grace, when it came, was almost as meteoric as his rise to fame. One moment he was playing to packed houses, the next moment he was starring in B grade films with names like Wafaa and Goraa. Rishi Kapoor replaced him as the new loverboy, and action movies dislodged romance and drama as box office catnip. Rajesh Khanna was well past 40 when his star began to wane. He had spent over 20 years at the top of the filmy food chain.
By the late 80s, he was a dim star in the Bollywood constellation, and by the Nineties he had burnt out altogether. But if his filmy fortunes were slipping, his personal charisma was unchanged. He rmarshalled his forces in the direction of politics, holding a Lok Sabha seat as a Congressman from 1992 to 1996. He remains active on behalf of the Congress.
Mr Khanna now features as the father of the hero or heroine in an odd movie here and there, and has appeared in some television serials.
Off screen, Rajesh Khanna's private life was distinctly bohemian. Early in his career, he conducted a seven-year-long live in relationship with actress Anju Mahendru. At the height of his fame, in 1973, he married 16- year-old Dimple Kapadia who had only just made a searing bikini-clad debut in teen romance Bobby. He was almost 16 years older than her when they married. 11 years and two daughters later, they divorced in 1984. There were also rumoured affairs with co-stars Mumtaz and Tina Munim. Any bad blood between Mr Khanna and ex-wife Dimple is now a thing of the past, and they often make public appearances with the family - daughters Twinkle and Rinke, and sons-in-law Akshay Kumar and Sameer Saran.
Mr Khanna's health has been the subject of concern for some time now. He was hospitalized in April, and is now believed to be unwell again. The reason for his ill health is not clear. Worried fans lined up outside his home in Mumbai's upscale Bandra neighbourhood. On June 21, as son-in-law Akshay Kumar thanked them for their concern, saying Mr Khanna was "more than fine," the erstwhile superstar himself appeared on the balcony, visibly weak and wearing dark glasses, to give the waiting crowd the victory sign.
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