He appeared in a total of 180 films - 163 feature films and 17 short films. Since 1987, he held record for being the actor with maximum solo-hero Hindi films and by 2011 his tally was 106, though only 99 got released. He won three Filmfare Best Actor Awards and was nominated for the same fourteen times. He received the most BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) – four times and nominated 25 times. In 1991, he was awarded the Filmfare Special Award for completing 25 years in the industry, appearing in a record 101 films (94 released) as the single lead hero in a span of 25 years. In 2005, he was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. He made his debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat and rose to prominence with his performances in films like Raaz, Baharon Ke Sapne, Ittefaq and Aradhana. He had 35 Golden Jubilee Hits (which means the films ran for more than 50 weeks in theatres across India) in the period 1967–1975, three more in 76–78 and 35 more in the period 1979–1991. He also had 22 silver jubilee hits (that is films ran in theatres for more than 25 weeks) in the period 1966–1991. He was the highest paid Indian actor from 1970–87 where Amitabh Bachchan shared the same tag with Khanna from 1980–87. He was also a Lok Sabha member of the Indian National Congress from New Delhi constituency from 1992 to 1996.

After being critically ill, Khanna died on 18 July 2012. Khanna has been awarded posthumously India's third highest civilan honour Padma Bhushan. However, the information and broadcasting ministry has recommended his name for Padma Vibhushan to the home ministry for conferring the award under the arts category. On April 30, 2013 he was officially bestowed with title the First Superstar of Indian cinema at Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Awards  At the 60th National Film Awards in May 2013, it was announced that Khanna was one of 50 Indian actors commemorated on a set of postage stamps released at the awards.

 

Early life

 

Born on 29 December 1942, in Amritsar in Punjab as Jatin Khanna,Khanna was adopted and raised by foster parents – Chunni Lal Khanna and Leela Wati Khanna, who were relatives of his biological parents after his father had migrated from pre-partitioned Pakistan to Gali Tiwarian in the city of Amritsar. His biological parents were Lala Hiranand and Chandrani Khanna and Lala worked as headmaster of the MC High School in Burewala (in present day Pakistan), Vehari District, Punjab, Pakistan.Khanna lived in Saraswati Niwas in Thakurdwar near Girgaon, Mumbai and attended St. Sebastian’s Goan High School there, along with his friend Ravi Kapoor, who later took the stage name Jeetendra, and whose mothers were friends. Khanna gradually started taking interest in theatre and did a lot of stage and theatre plays in his school and college days and won many prizes in the inter college drama competitions. In 1962 Khanna played a wounded dumb soldier in the play 'Andha Yug' and impressed with his performance the chief guest suggested him to get into films soon. Khanna became a rare newcomer who struggled in his own MG sports car to get work in theatre and films in the early sixties.Khanna did his first two years of Bachelor of Arts at Wadia College in Pune from 1959 to 1961. Both friends later studied in K. C. College, Mumbai.[40] Khanna also tutored Jeetendra for his first film audition. Khanna's uncle KK Talwar changed Khanna's first name to Rajesh when Khanna decided to join films. His friends and his wife called him Kaka.

 

Early career (1966–1975)

 

Rajesh Khanna was one of eight finalists in the 1965 All India Talent Contest organised by United Producers and Filmfare from more than ten thousand contestants. Subsequently Khanna won the contest. He made his film debut in the 1966 film Aakhri Khat directed by Chetan Anand, followed by Raaz directed by Ravindra Dave both of which were a part of his predetermined prize for winning the All-India United Producers’ Talent Competition. G.P. Sippy and Nasir Hussain were the first to sign Rajesh Khanna after he won the contest.Aakhri Khat was India’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 40th Oscar Academy Awards in 1967. Khanna in an interview to Hindu newspaper said,"Though “Aakhri Khat” is my first film, I received my first break as a leading actor in Ravindra Dave's, “Raaz” in 1967. My heroine was Babita, already a popular actress then. Though I had lots of confidence, I was shy in facing the camera initially. In my first three shots, I had to perform with stress on my body language and dialogue delivery. Though I was right with my dialogues, my movements were not up to the mark. Ravindra Dave explained me my scenes and movements very clearly correcting my way of walking". Being under contract with United Producers, he got projects like Aurat, Doli and Ittefaq. He was then noticed for his performances in films like Baharon Ke Sapne, Aurat (1967), Doli, Aradhana and Ittefaq. In case of Bahraon Ke Sapne, the response from the public in 1st week of run forced the film's ending to be changed from a tragic one to happeier one from the 2nd week.Later Waheeda Rehman suggested Asit Sen to take Khanna for the lead role in Khamoshi. Through Aradhana he rose to "instant national fame" and film critics referred to him as the first superstar of India. In that film, Rajesh Khanna was cast in a double role (father and son) opposite Sharmila Tagore and Farida Jalal. The film also saw the resurgence of Kishore Kumar, who eventually became the official playback voice of Rajesh Khanna. The Kishore Kumar-Rajesh Khanna combination worked miracles and it was almost impossible to see them as separate identities. They became a singer-actor duo and together they gave many songs till 1991. Then in year 1971, Haathi Mere Saathi became the biggest hit and also became the biggest grosser ever till then. Khanna is also credited with giving Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar their first chance to become screenplay writers by offering them work in Haathi Mere Saathi. Javed Akhthar accepted in an interview "One day, he went to Salimsaab and said that Mr. Devar had given him a huge signing amount with which he could complete the payment for his bungalow Aashirwad. But the film's script was far from being satisfactory. He told us that if we could set right the script, he would make sure we got both money and credit."Rajesh bought Rajendra Kumar's bunglow named Dimple in Carter Road for 31 lakhs in 1970 and renamed it as Ashirwaad.

 

Rajesh acted alongside Mumtaz in eight successful films. They were neighbours and got along very well, and as a result they shared a great on-screen chemistry. After Khanna married, Mumtaz decided to marry millionaire Mayur Madhwani in 1974. At the time, she was doing three films Aap ki Kasam, Roti and Prem Kahani with Khanna. She decided to quit movies only after completing these films. When she left films Khanna felt very lost. In one of her interviews, Mumtaz was quoted saying "I would pull his leg and tease him about his fan following. Whenever Rajesh entered a hotel in Madras, there was a queue of 600 girls waiting to see him at midnight. As a result, even I would get some importance, as people would ask for my autograph as well. He was very generous with his associates, and would party a lot."

 

During the peak of his career he would be mobbed during public appearances. Fans kissed his car, which would be covered with lipstick marks, and lined the road, cheering and chanting his name. Female fans sent him letters written in their blood. There used to be a line of cars of his producers and hysterical fans outside his bungalow every day. Actor Mehmood parodied him in Bombay to Goa where the driver and conductor of the bus were called 'Rajesh' and 'Khanna'. Even today, he remains the favourite of mimicry artists, who copy his trademark style and dialogue delivery. During the filming of Amar Prem there was a scene that needed to be filmed at Howrah Bridge with a boat carrying Khanna with Sharmila moving under the bridge. The authorities ruled this scene out as they realised that if the public found out that the hero of the film would be there, it may create problems on the bridge itself, and that it might collapse due to the amount of people trying to get a glimpse of their favourite actor. Film critic Monojit Lahiri remembers “Girls married themselves to photographs of Rajesh Khanna, cutting their fingers and applying the blood as sindoor. Rajesh was God, there has never been such hysteria.”

 

Several songs sung by Kishore Kumar in the 1970s were based on Rajesh Khanna. During the filming of the song 'Mere Sapnon Ki Rani' in Aradhana, Sharmila Tagore was shooting for a Satyajit Ray film and director Shakti Samanta had to shoot their scenes separately and then join the scenes together.In the seventies, his chemistry with Sharmila Tagore, Mumtaz, Asha Parekh, Zeenat Aman and Hema Malini were also popular with audiences.

The BBC made a film on him, titled Bombay Superstar, in 1974, the shooting for which began the same time when he got married and his film Daag premiered. In the video it can be noticed that Khanna was shooting for Aap Ki Kasam. A textbook prescribed by the Mumbai University contained an essay, 'The Charisma of Rajesh Khanna!'.

Sharmila Tagore said in interview to The Indian Express that "women came out in droves to see Kaka. They would stand in queues outside the studios to catch a glimpse, they would marry his photographs, they would pull at his clothes. Delhi girls were crazier for him than Mumbai girls. He needed police protection when he was in public. I have never seen anything like this before and since."

Music remained one of the biggest attractions of all Rajesh Khanna films throughout his career. Many of the musical scores for Khanna's films were composed by Sachin Dev Burman, R.D. Burman and Laxmikant-Pyarelal. The trio of Rajesh Khanna, Kishore Kumar and R.D. Burman went on to make a number of popular films, including Kati Patang, Amar Prem, Shehzada, Apna Desh, Mere Jeevan Saathi, Aap Ki Kasam, Ajnabee, Namak Haraam, Maha Chor, Karm, Phir Wohi Raat, Aanchal, Kudrat, Ashanti, Agar Tum Na Hote, Awaaz, Hum Dono and Alag Alag.

 

Rajesh Khanna had 15 consecutive solo hit films between 1969 to 1971, which is still an unbroken record in Indian film history. Those 15 solo lead hero films were Aradhana, Doli, Bandhan, Ittefaq, Do Raaste, Khamoshi, Safar, The Train, Kati Patang, Sachaa Jhutha, Aan Milo Sajna, Mehboob Ki Mehendi, Dushmun, Anand and Haathi Mere Saathi.

Khanna considered Guru Dutt, Meena Kumari and Geeta Bali as his idols. Khanna dislosed in an interview," My inspirations include, Dilip Kumar's dedication and intensity, Raj Kapoor's spontaneity, Dev Anand's style and Shammi Kapoor's rhythm."

 

1976–1978

 

Between 1976 and 1978, Khanna acted in 5 box office hits and in nine films that were not commercially successful. Seven of the unsuccessful films were critically acclaimed and have achieved strong cult status over the years among the viewers and these films included Mehbooba, Bundal Baaz, Tyaag, Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein, Naukri, Chakravyuha and Janta Hawaldar which were directed by Shakti Samanta, Shammi Kapoor, Din Dayal Sharma, Meraj, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Basu Chatterjee and Mehmood Ali, respectively. Khanna persuaded Samanta to cast his sister-in-law Simple Kapadia opposite him in Anurodh. Films starring Rajesh Khanna and directed by Shakti Samanta tended to be commercially successful, but Mehbooba was an exception. The change from romantic and social movies to action oriented multi-starrers caused the decline of Khanna's career in terms of box office ratings to some extent. The declaration of emergency in India had angered the masses and this helped films having the lead character revolting against corruption becoming successes. Actor Joy Mukherjee made Chhailla Babu, a suspense thriller in 1977, which became the only successful film of his as a director and the unexpected success of the Chhailla Babu gave a boost to the career of Khanna. However, Khanna continued basically in solo hero social sober household meaningful films during this era and played a variety of characters in films of various genres. During this phase too he had box office hits like Maha Chor, Chhailla Babu, Anurodh, Karm and Bhola Bhala.

 

1979–1991

 

After 1978, Khanna starred in critically acclaimed commercially successful films such as Amar Deep, Phir Wohi Raat, Bandish, Thodisi Bewafaii, Dard, Kudrat, Dhanwan, Ashanti (1982 film), Avtaar, Agar Tum Na Hote, Souten, Jaanwar, Asha Jyoti, Awaaz, Naya Kadam, Hum Dono, Babu, Aaj Ka M.L.A. Ram Avtar, Shatru, Insaaf Main Karoonga, Anokha Rishta, Nazrana, Angaarey, Adhikar, Amrit, Awam (from 1979–1991). Director Bharathiraja decided to remake his 1978 Tamil box office hit film "Sigappu Rojakkal" in Hindi with Khanna playing the role of a psychopath. Kamal Haasan who played the same role in Tamil won South Filmfare Best Actor Award for his portrayal. But the Hindi movie was seen as controversial by traditional and orthodox Hindi moviegoers and was not a commercial success, although Khanna's performance has been rated later higher by critics than the original.

 

Tina Munim and Rajesh Khanna became the leading on and off screen couple of the 80’s with hits like Fiffty Fiffty, Suraag, Souten, Aakhir Kyun, Bewafai, Insaaf Main Karoonga and Adhikar. Ram Awatar Agnihotri wrote that Tina Munim showed the first sparks of the dedicated actress she would become in the films "Alag Alag" and "Adhikar", both with Khanna.His on screen pair with Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Padmini Kolhapure and Poonam Dhillon was also popular in the eighties He also acted in the Marathi hit film "Sundara Satarkar" in 1981. He has performed in the least number of multi-starrer films in comparison to his contemporaries and portrayed the central character in the few multistarrers he acted. Khanna performed in successful multi-star films including Rajput, Dharm Aur Qanoon,[89] Paapi Pet Ka Sawaal Hai, Zamana, Dil-E-Nadaan and Ghar Ka Chiraag. He did three potboiler movies with Jeetendra, which were blockbusters-Dharam Kanta, Nishaan and Maqsad. In 1984, Maqsad was the second-highest ranked film in terms of box office results, earning 8.5 crores. Aaj Ka M.L.A. Ram Avtar is one of the memorable political films of Rajesh Khanna. Khanna played the character of a corrupt politician in this film. Viewers praised his role in the film. The year 1985 saw him turn a producer with Alag Alag. Eleven films, with Khanna in the lead, released in 1985 and eight of these became hits and in addition had two films with him in special appearance. Before joining politics one of his last films as the lead hero was Swarg released in 1990. David Dhawan regards Swarg as his most favourite directorial venture and said in an interview " Swarg did well. Though a serious film, people even today talk about it as it struck a chord. I was working with Rajesh Khanna for the first time. I shared a good rapport with him. He never threw tantrums on the sets."

He experimented with films of different genres like tragedy in Babu as a rickshaw puller, thriller in Redrose as a psycopath, political adventure in Awam, negative roles in Dhanwan and Redrose, fantasy in Bundalbaaz and Jaanwar, crime in Phir Wohi Raat and Angarey, suspense in Chakravyuha and Iteefaq, comedy in Bawarchi, Hum Dono and Masterji, action in Ashanti and Zamana, family dramas addressing different issues like Aanchal and Amrit and Agar Tum Na Hote, variety of social films like Avtaar, Naya Kadam, Akhir Kyun and with different themes like reincarnation theme in Kudrat, spiritualism in Maalik, patriotism in Prem Kahani, immature young love theme handled in different ways in films like Anokha Rishta, Nazrana and Dil E Nadan and did Muslim social where he loves a daughter of a prostitute in Mehboob Ki Mehendi. He has played variety of characters as the lead hero – as a postman in Palkon Ki Chaon Mein, as a lawyer who proves that his senior has committed a rape 25 years earlier in Kudrat, as a politician in Aaj Ka MLA Ram Avtaar, as a young musician forced by fate to marry two women in Asha Jyoti, as professional advocate in Awaaz, fisherman in Prem Bandhan, a revolutionary patriot who is torn apart by love and a policeman like in Prem Kahanai and as a righteous farmer in Bandhan.

He shared a close relationship with R.D. Burman and Kishore Kumar. The trio were friends and have worked together in thirty two films. Kishore Kumar had even credited Rajesh Khanna for his resurgence, so much so that he sang for Alag Alag, the first film produced by Rajesh Khanna without charging anything. In 1985 Pancham found himself being sidelined after failure of few films but Rajesh Khanna was among the few who continued to stand by him. Rajesh and Pancham worked together even after the death of Kishore in the films Jai Shiv Shankar, the unreleased film Police Ke Peechhe Police (both produced by Khanna ) and Sautela Bhai. Khanna even helped Leena Gangully and Amit Kumar in completing Mamta Ki Chhaon Mein, the last film directed by Kishore who died before the completion of the film.

Pyarelal of Laxmikant-Pyarelal duo quoted in an interview that “Rajesh Khanna was lucky for us and we were lucky for him too. From the 1969 Do Raaste to the 1986 Amrit, we gave hits together both as films and as music scores.... When we went on our first overseas concert tour in 1984, he came and danced to three songs. He was very particular about his music and would take a tape home if he could not assess a song. He would then give his feedback after a day or two. But if he liked a song at the sitting, he would loudly shout “Wah! Wah!” in appreciation…. It was God’s blessing that we came up with such a vast range of hit songs for him, including in his home productions Roti and films like Chhailla Babu, Chakravyuha, Fiffty Fiffty, Amar Deep and Anurodh. Incidentally, he had a stake in Mehboob Ki Mehndi too. He had great interest in music and a terrific sense of melody too. His music is dominated by Pancham (R.D. Burman) and us and we accepted Shakti Samanta’s Anurodh only because Rajesh Khanna had some misunderstanding with Pancham then and did not want to work with him." Khanna would always request music directors to fit in Kishore Kumar wherever possible. In fact, Kishoreda was very reluctant to sing "Waada Tera Waada" in Dushman and suggested Laxmikant Pyarelal to get it sung by Rafi. Then Laxmikant made Kishoreda meet Rajesh Khanna and Khanna winked at Laxmikant and told Kishoreda that in that case the song should be scrapped. On hearing this Kishore immediately agreed to sing it by himself for Khanna.

Actors who were part of the cast of most of his films include Ashok Kumar, Sujit Kumar, Prem Chopra, Madan Puri, Asrani, Bindu, Vijay Arora, Roopesh Kumar, Dina Pathak and A. K. Hangal, who remained part of his " working team" since the start until the late eighties. The lyricist whom he preferred for his movies was Anand Bakshi. Films by Shakti Samanta with Khanna in the lead, music by Pancham and lyrics by Anand Bakshi had people swooning over. The films Samanta directed without Khanna in the eighties were duds. His other close friends from the film industry include Raj Babbar, J. Om Prakash, Prem Chopra, D. Rama Naidu and Jeetendra.

Celebrities of the post-2000 era, like Madhur Bhandarkar, say that they take at least three or four turns in Carter Road even today only to see Khanna. The younger generation stars like Imran Khan still regard Rajesh Khanna as someone who would take the top slot as the most romantic hero of all time. Shahrukh Khan idolises Rajesh Khanna and has opined,"Rajesh Khanna you can’t touch". Anupam Kher said "Kishore Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar,S.D Burman, R D Burman, Rajesh Khanna, Smita Patil changed the face of Indian cinema.They’re remembered by the films that they do." Actor Tom Alter confessed “I still dream of being Rajesh Khanna. For me, in the early 1970s, he was the only hero – romantic to the core, not larger than life, so Indian and real – he was my hero; the reason I came into films and he still is.” Actor Irrfan Khan stated in an interview, "The kind of craze witnessed by Rajesh Khanna has not been duplicated by anyone. He was the biggest and the most real star Bollywood has produced. I'd say stardom is that feeling of being possessed by your idol; you are so overwhelmed with euphoria you lose touch with reality." The trend of wearing guru kurtas and belt on shirts became famous in seventies and eighties because of Khanna. Javed Akhthar told in an interview about his experience about Khanna's stardom "Bangalore used to have a state lottery and the government asked him to draw the lucky number. They organised it in a stadium. I was with him as we were discussing some scripts. I don't know if I will experience that again, the sound of 50,000 people gasping (when they saw him). He was like Caesar. It was unbelievable".

 

Political and business career

 

In the election for New Delhi seat in the 1991 Lok Sabha election, Khanna lost to L.K.Advani by a narrow margin of 1589 votes after which Khanna stood on the ground at the counting station insisting that he had been cheated of a win. As controversey erupted Advani had to vacate the constituency and a by-election took place and Khanna won the same seat in 1992 by defeating Shatrughan Sinha by 25,000 votes. Rajesh Khanna was a member of Parliament for the Indian National Congress, from the New Delhi constituency, where he won the 1992 by-election, retaining his seat until the 1996 after which he was not interested in active politics. When Khanna was MP, he did not accept new acting assignements but only acted in the film Khudai(1994). After leaving parliament, he was a political activist for the INC and campaigned for the party till the 2012 Punjab election.

Khanna and a group of foreign investors bought land in Shirdi on which they planned to build a religious resort for disciples of Sai Baba of Shirdi.

 

Personal life

 

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Khanna fell in love with the then fashion designer and actress Anju Mahendru. They were in a relationship for seven years. Mahendru states that the couple did not speak to each other for 17 years after the break-up. Later Khanna married the budding actress Dimple Kapadia in March 1973, before Kapadia's debut film Bobby released in November of that year. They have two daughters from the marriage; Twinkle and Rinke. Khanna and Kapadia separated in 1984 but did not complete the divorce proceedings. In the eighties Tina Munim was romantically involved with Khanna while working with Khanna in 11 movies from 1980-87. Tina had been a fan of Rajesh since her school days and even in 1969 she used to stand outside Laxmi Nivas, a building next to her Gujrati medium school,where Anju Mahendru used to stay to catch a glimpse of Khanna. Tina expressed desire to marry Khanna after his separation with Dimple but Khanna refused her proposal in 1987 considering that this will have a bad impact on his daughters and he was sure that he and his wife would solve their differences soon after which Tina left the film industry to pursue higher education Khanna and Kapadia however maintained an amicable relationship where they both were seen together at parties and family functions together from 1990–2012. Kapadia also campaigned for Khanna's election and worked in his film Jai Shiv Shankar (1990).

Khanna's elder daughter Twinkle Khanna, an interior decorator and a former film actress, is married to actor Akshay Kumar while his younger daughter Rinke Khanna, also a former Hindi film actress, is married to a London-based investment banker Samir Saran. On 17 July 2012, a woman named Anita Advani claimed herself to be a live-in partner of Khanna sent a legal notice to his family members asking for compensation. However on 9 August 2012 his family sent reply that Anita Advani's claims were all untrue and that she was not his live-in partner.

 

Illness and death

 

 

Rajesh Khanna's funeral procession held in Mumbai on 19 July 2012.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rajesh Khanna's funeral

In June 2012, it was reported that Rajesh Khanna's health had been deteriorating for some time,On 23 June he was admitted to Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai due to health complications. He was discharged on 8 July from the hospital and was reportedly fine.

On 14 July, Khanna was readmitted to the Lilavati Hospital but was discharged on 16 July. He died on 18 July 2012, at his bungalow, Aashirwad, in Mumbai.Sources confirmed that his health was deteriorating since July 2011 as he was diagnosed with cancer. After his death his co-star Mumtaz said that Khanna was suffering from cancer since a year and had undergone chemotherapy sessions. His funeral took place on 19 July at 11:00. His funeral was attended by nearly 9 lakh people and his fans had come from places like Surat, Ahmedabad, California, Singapore and from other foreign countries Police had resort to lathi-charge to control the crowd of fans who had gathered for the procession from Khanna's Bandra house to crematorium. He died in the presence of his wife Dimple Kapadia, daughters Rinkie Khanna and Twinkle Khanna, son-in-law Akshay Kumar, grand children, Anju Mahendru and other close relatives. His pyre was lit by his grandson, Aarav, with the assistance of Akshay Kumar. Amitabh Bachchan cited that Khanna's last words were 'Time is up', 'Pack up'. In his special recorded message to his family, friends and fans which was played on his "chautha" he thanked and saluted his friends and fans for the love they showered on him. On 25 July 2012, his ashes were immersed in Ganges by his wife Dimple Kapadia and daughter Rinke Khanna.