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Rajesh Khanna: The First Super Star of Bollywood left us on July 18,2012

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Pragati Saxena

The Hindi film industry and its fans can never forget the charm and aura of super star Rajesh Khanna. He had evolved a typical mannerism that bending of the head on one side, the mischievous blinking of eyes and a certain gesture of hands- which was later not only copied in a variety of ways but also mimicked.

Such was the adoration for this actor that women swooned on seeing him, married his photo and used the dust of his car wheels as sindoor. Millions of hearts were broken when he married much-younger Dimple Kapadia. Some women even reportedly committed suicide.

But he was an actor who always longed for a meaty and challenging role. It was evident from his debut film ‘Akhiri Khat’. But in 1971, when he was reaching the heights of stardom, he was once again tempted by a script. So much so that he wanted to lower his fees to do the film and the director couldn’t ask for more!

Hrishikesh Mukherjee was elated when Rajesh Khanna joined the team of ‘Anand’ despite the fact that he did not have dates for two consecutive years! Well, that’s the strength of a good story. For Rajesh Khanna, portraying a cheerful man suffering from a terminal disease was challenging. While shooting for the film, he complained of being over worked. He reportedly shared his plight with a prominent film journalist Bhawana Somaaya and said that it is ironical but the true struggle of an actor begins after he gets success.

However, Rajesh Khanna’s ‘Anand’ remains etched in our mind forever. The music, dialogues and cheerfulness of a man who is soon going to die- are the elements great stories are made of.

But this most-loved and adored superstar was disliked by a person of his own fraternity!

While promoting his autobiography ‘Khullamkhulla’, another star, late Rishi Kapoor confessed in an interview that he had an “illogical” dislike for Kakaji (as Rajesh Khanna was fondly called). So much so, that when Raj Kapoor was casting for Satyam Shivam Sundaram’, he wanted to cast Rajesh Khanna in the lead role and Rajesh Khanna would have readily agreed as he was a great admirer of Raj Kapoor’s films. But Rishi Kapoor somehow convinced Raj that Rajesh Khanna was not the ideal choice and it would be better if Shashi Kapoor did the lead.

That’s how Rajesh Khanna lost on another popular film which went on to become a box office hit. Rishi Kapoor later admitted in his autobiography that he did not like Rajesh Khanna, probably because Khanna “stole his heroine” (Dimple Kapadia, who debuted with Rishi Kapoor and later married Rajesh Khanna).

Today both the actors are no more with us. But their unforgettable performances and innumerable stories of their lives are and will forever remain with us. There are, after all, some things which time cannot snatch away!

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