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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

'Achcha to hum chalte hain': Remembering Rajesh Khanna


Rajesh Khanna: Bollywood first Superstar

From the dizzying heights of fame to quiet shadows behind the arclights, Rajesh Khanna's life had a theatrical sweep, almost like one of his films. Bollywood's original superstar - simply the phenomenon to some - died in Mumbai Wednesday, leaving behind memories cast in celluloid of that famous crooked smile and head tilt. He was only 69.

In an era long before this age of instant connect of mobile phones and internet, Rajesh Khanna was the man who sparked a frenzy never seen before and never since, not even by the likes of Amitabh Bachchan.

His very name spelt magic in the 1970s. He sparked hysteria, particularly amongst his legions of women fans, who would line the road for a glimpse, chant his name, cover his car with lipstick marks and even write him letters in blood. They got married to his photograph, cut their finger, let the blood flow and applied 'sindoor'.

Truly, "O mere di ke chain"!

Kaka, as he was popularly known, was one of the highest paid actors of his time, his record of consecutive solo super hits still unbroken. Who can forget the years between 1970-1979 when he starred in mega hits like "Safar", "Kati Patang", "Sachaa Jhutha", "Aan Milo Sajna", "Anand", "Amar Prem" and "Mere Jeevan Saathi". Ever the urbane, suave romantic who wooed like few others.

Glory and fame galore came his way with the two 1969 films - "Aradhana" and "Do Raaste" - where he teamed up with two of his best co-stars, Sharmila Tagore and Mumtaz, respectively. Both the films were super hits. Hindi film's first superstar was born.

Between "Aradhana" in 1969 and "Prem Kahani" in 1975, Rajesh enjoyed god-like status.

It was all about charisma - a certain something that went beyond the art of acting. He had that unique way of delivering a dialogue, of crinkling his eyes and that interesting head tilt that were all his own - and designed to get fans swooning.

Describing the charm of Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh once said: "I got famous purely because I was working with Rajesh Khanna in 'Anand'. People asked me questions like, 'How is he to look at? What does he do?'"

The mega story had a small beginning in Amritsar. Born Jatin Arora on Dec 29, 1942, he was adopted and raised by foster parents.

He went from being Jatin to Rajesh, thanks to his uncle who changed his name, when he decided to join films.

In 1965, the journey to filmdom started after he won the All India Talent Contest organised by United Producers and Filmfare. He made his debut with "Aakhri Khat" in 1966.

It was a fairly easy road to superstardom after that.

He became the heartthrob of the nation, singing timeless melodies like "Mere Sapnon Ki Rani..." in "Aradhana", "Zindagi Ek Safar" in "Andaaz" or "Yeh Shaam Mastani" in "Kati Patang". Singer Kishore Kumar and composer R.D. Burman were amongst his closest friends.

In his four-decade career, he appeared in about 160 films, of which 106 had him as the solo lead hero and 22 were two hero projects.

Rajesh proved his mettle in offbeat films too. He teamed up with Hrishikesh Mukherjee for the critically acclaimed "Bawarchi" and "Namak Haram". The quintessential romantic also did the intense "Avishkar", directed by Basu Bhattacharya.

But then age caught up and the star began fading away.

He moved to television and played the main lead in two serials - "Ittefaque" and "Apne Paraye" during 2001-02 and also featured in "Raghukul Reet Sada Chali Aayi" between 2008-09.

The decline to B-grade films was inevitable. There was also the sorry "Wafa" with Laila Khan, who was found murdered this July.

He dabbled in politics, being Congress MP from the New Delhi constituency from 1991-1996.

Like the Hollywood legends of yore, the personal life also had a larger than life dimension.

He fell in love with Dimple Kapadia, who was only 16 and whose first film "Bobby" was yet to release. She was 15 years younger to him but the pull was strong and they got married after a whwhirwind romance in 1973.

It was the stuff of tabloid headlines. They had two daughters Twinkle and Rinke. The marriage lasted only 11 years.

It was a lonely life for Rajesh after that. He disappeared from the headlines and appeared to be a shadow of his former self in his rare public appearances.

But the family came together in his last days. His estranged wife was the one who took care of him during his illness. Son-in-law Akshay Kumar was also a great comfort.

Rajesh reappeared in an ad a few months before his death, and once again became the talk of town - he was clearly unwell but the zest in his voice was intact as he intoned "Babumoshai" from his much loved film "Anand".

Like Anand from the film, the man is gone. But the memories will live on.
Filmography As Producer

Some unknown facts about Rajesh Khanna


Here are some facts about Rajesh Khanna's films which most of the articles fail to notify, especially his critically acclaimed superhits and award worthy performances but commercially unsuccessful movies of the period 1976-1991. Aaina, Maalik and Raja Rani were good films which unfortunately flopped.
Aaina was remade by Balachander of his award winning Tamil hit. Plus Mahachor and Shehzada were huge hits at the box office. Shehzada elevated Surinder Kapoor's production house to A grade level(Anil Kapoor's father).Khanna had 35 Golden Jubilee hits in 1967-1975 period and 35 more Golden Jubilee hits in 1979-1991 period. In 1976-78, he had 7 critically acclaimed films which flopped at the box office(especially Tyaag, Mehbooba, Chakaravyuha, Naukri, Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein  though flopped have excellent performances by Khanna and were unfortunate flops.
Even directors of these films accepted this fact) and had 2 more flops which was panned by critics in 76-78 and the 4 commercial hits of 76-78 were Chhaila Babu, Anurodh,Mahachor and Karm. To say that after Namak Haram, Khanna's career went downhill is rubbish, as Aap Ki Kasam, Roti, Prem Kahani, Prem Nagar all came only after Namak Haram.
In 1979, he had Punjabi hit film Til Til Dalekha and Amardeep in Hindi as hits, with which he bounced back. Media does not highlight the solo hit movies of Khanna of 80's properly - Aanchal, Phir Wohi Raat, Bandish , Kudrat,  Dard ,Dhanwan, Prem Bandhan,Fiffty Fiffty,Ashanti,Souten,Avatar,Agar Tum Na Hote,Awaaz, Angaarey,Naya Kadam, Hum Dono,Akhir Kyun, Babu, Bewafai,Adhikar, Shatru, Anokha Rishta, Nasihat, Amrit, Awaam etc..and multi star hits like Rajput, Maqsad , Zamana, Dharm Aur Qanoon  etc....he had 22 silver jubliee hits in 1966-1991 period and 73 Golden jubliee hits in 1966-1991(3 golden jubliee hits in 76-78 period).
Khanna remained a favorite with producers throughout his career. Films like Redrose and Aaj Ka MLA Ram Avtar though flopped were critically acclaimed and Khanna has performed well even in them. Infact every producer has repeated Khanna in their films atleast 3 times...in his career, at different times with author backed role for Khanna eg- BR Chopra had 3 hits with Khanna (Ittefaq -1969, Karm in 1977, Awam in 1987) same goes the case with D Rama Naidu, Shakti Samanta, Yash Chopra, Narinder Bedi, K. Raghavendra Rao, Narayana Rao Dasari, J.Om Prakash, Mohan Kumar etc...So story of big producers shying away from approaching Khanna is a fiction and Khanna has minimum of 4 films releasing every year from 1970-1991.
Another highlight of Khanna's career was" his record in 1985 - 8 superhits off the 11 released as the lead hero" and in year 1985 he also made special appearance in Aar Par(a flop) and had unreleased film Bayen Hath Ka Khel, which had its musical release in 1985. Also his 15 consecutive solo superhits was in period 1969-1971 - and the name of 15 films are Aradhana, Doli, Bandhan,Ittefaq ,Do Raaste , Khamoshi, Safar,The Train ,Kati Patang,Sachaa Jhutha ,Aan Milo Sajna , Mehboob Ki Mehendi,Dushmun ,Anand ,Haathi Mere Saathi.
The 2 hero films like Andaz,Maryada were blockbusters too but not included in 15 consecutive solo superhits and same goes with Choti Bahu, Shehzada and Mere Jeevan Saathi which were given tag of superhits but were released in 1972 after special appearance made by Khanna in Badnaam Farishte had flopped so not inlcuded in calculation of 15 solo superhits.
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 in short span of 25 years.By 2011, he now holds record for actor with most number of author backed lead hero films - 106 solo hero films and only 22 two hero films . Khanna has done 163 feature films and 17 short films (so his total film tally comes to 180 in 40 years as told by Khanna in IIFA awards).

Rajesh Khanna passes away

Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna dies at 69


Mumbai - According to a TV news channel superstar Rajesh Khanna is no more after being critical ill from last few months. Latest reports suggest that all his family members have gathered at his Bandra house and the house has been cordoned off by police officials. The funeral time is 4.30 pm in Mumbai today.

Khanna had been suffering from bad health since some time and buzz had it that the actor's liver had been damaged due to his alcohol addiction.

He breathed his last in the presence of his wife Dimple Kapadia, daughters Rinkie and Twinkle, son-in-law Akshay Kumar, grand children and close relatives.


Rajesh Khanna's last screen appearence
 
Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna dies at 69


Mumbai - According to a TV news channel superstar Rajesh Khanna is no more after being critical ill from last few months. Latest reports suggest that all his family members have gathered at his Bandra house and the house has been cordoned off by police officials. The funeral time is 4.30 pm in Mumbai today.

Khanna had been suffering from bad health since some time and buzz had it that the actor's liver had been damaged due to his alcohol addiction.

He breathed his last in the presence of his wife Dimple Kapadia, daughters Rinkie and Twinkle, son-in-law Akshay Kumar, grand children and close relatives.


Rajesh Khanna's last screen appearence