Rajesh Khanna, The Super Star Options

[swarapriya]

Rajesh Khanna, The Super Star

Rajesh Khanna was dubbed as the first Super Star of the Hindi screen. In a reign of five years, from 1969 to 1973, he made a hit after hit that was unprecedented in the Hindi cinema history. He was working on stage when he won the talent contest by the United Producers of Bombay. These were the 10 producers who formed a team to select new talent as an answer to escalating salaries for the established stars.

Rajesh's first movie was Chetan Anand's "Aakhri Khat" released in 1966. Inspite of a great director and some beautiful music, the film was a commercial failure. But things changed when in 1969, Shakti Samanta's "Aradhana" was released. The movie with its beautiful music and strong performance by Sharmila Tagore created history. In Rajesh Khanna, a star was born. And for the next few years, he couldn't do anything wrong.

Rajesh made nearly 130 movies in his professional career. One of our Forum members, Debjyoti, gave me this idea to start a thread on the songs of his albums. By happy coincidence I have CDs of almost all of his movie albums. In the coming months, I will start sharing these albums in chronological order.

Here is part one of Rajesh Khanna's filmography ...

[Sangeet]

Record Cover for Aakhri Khat

[swarapriya]

Record Cover for Aakhri Khat

Sangeet ji, thanks for sharing this great picture.

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Jan 4 2009, 01:53 AM

[rashmi mehta]

Record Cover for Aakhri Khat

Sangeet ji, thanks for sharing this great picture.

biography of rajesh khanna

Name: Jatin Khanna
Address: Ashirwad, 2 Carter Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai 400 050
Date of Birth: 29 December
Zodiac: Capricorn
Height: 5'10" or 1.79 m
Family: Wife- Dimple Kapadia, Daughter- Twinkle Khanna, Rinkie Khanna
Marital status: separated
Ex-spouse: Dimple Kapadia
Ex-souse: Anju Mahendru
Debut Film: Aakhri Khat-1966

Jatin Khanna, a Punjabi khatri, was born in Amritsar on 29 December 1942, and was adopted by parents who already had three daughters of their own.

a boy who was destined to make history before his prime and also become a part of history before his time-a strange story written by the invisible hand of destiny.

Jatin Khanna was born into a middle class family. He had no great ambitions. His only love was theatre and acting, specifically. He was among the most popular actors in inter-collegiate drama competition in Bombay (now Mumbai). After a stint in theatre, His love for acting made him join a talent contest organised by the United Producers Talent Contest, a contest planned by some of the leading filmmakers of the time through a nation wide selection procedure by panel of judges like Late Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt, Chetan Anand, G.P. Sippy, Sri Sakti Samanta, Sri B. R. Chopra, etc. He was the undisputed winner - making his film debut with chetan anand was in Aakhri Khat which went unnoticed..

Rajesh Khanna came from an affluent family. Khanna's father had misgivings about Rajesh's taking on a professional acting career. His initial foray into cinema with renowned film maker Chetan Anand was not a resounding success. Nonetheless, Rajesh persisted and exceeded all expectations. His previous theatrical background assisted him with the characterization of the personas of the cinema which he portrayed effortlessly and naturally.

He signed his first film, "Raaz' in 1967 and when on to sign fourteen films in a row, some of which were released, some not and all the films that were release were very big flops …

Released in November 1969, Aradhana made Rajesh Khanna a star. In the double role of a father and son, both air force pilots, Khanna cut a most dashing figure in uniform. His mannerisms - the crinkling of his eyes and shake of the head asking the heroine to come to him found instant favour with the audience and aided by such S.D. Burman ditties as Mere Sapnon ki Rani, Kora Kaagaz Tha Yeh Man Mera, Roop Tera Mastana, Gun Guna Rahe Hain Bhawarein and Baaghon Mein Bahar Hai, Aradhana was a golden jubilee hit.

He was declared the greatest superstar India had ever seen. He was more talk about then any other women being in India, treated almost like God and like God himself by many…

Success came to him like a season which seemed to have no end. Every film with him was a silver jubilee which was a very small success for him. It was only jubilees and more jubilees and success and more success for him, the kind of success no Dilip Kumar or Raj Kapoor or Dev Anand, the trio who ruled till he came and conquered had ever seen…

Rajesh Khanna was the dream man of every young woman, the dream son every father and mother and the dream brother of every sister.

Barely a short while later in December the same year, Raj Khosla's Do Raaste opened to full houses and also went on to be a golden jubilee hit. What's more in Bombay, the two films had their main theatres right across the road from one another, Aradhana at Opera House and Do Raaste at Roxy!

Thereafter till 1972, it looked like Rajesh Khanna could do no wrong. Film after film swept the box-office. But there was more to him than just his mannerisms as he built the image of a vulnerable, gentle romantic. In films like Khamoshi (1969), Safar (1970) and Anand (1970), he came up with sensitive performances straight from the heart.

He was the most wanted romantic actor. But he also proved to be a very sensitive actor with films like "Anand", "Safar", "Khamoshi", "Amar Prem", "Baawarchi" and "Namak Haram" which had a struggling actor called Amitabh Bachchan as his co-star who he considered a nobody and no competition for him and predicted a very bleak future for him. He openly told people that their was only one Rajesh Khanna and their would never be another.


Anand saw perhaps his greatest ever performance as a man stricken with cancer but wanting to live life to the fullest before he dies. In Anand, Rajesh Khanna more than justified Frank Capra's immortal observation, "Tragedy is not when actors cry. Tragedy is when audiences cry."

Indeed at the end of Anand as Amitabh sits by Khanna's dead body and as the tape recorder plays Khanna's voice, you cannot help but cry along with Amitabh. As Khanna went from strength to strength, even a guest appearance in Andaaz (1971) generated more hysteria than the hero of the film Shammi Kapoor. In fact symbolically this represented the end of the Shammi Kapoor era and the peak of the Rajesh Khanna era. Though Khanna worked with top heroines of the day like Waheeda Rehman, Nanda, Mala Sinha, Tanuja and Hema Malini, his most popular pairings were with Sharmila Tagore and Mumtaz. The BBC made a film on him, Bombay Superstar, and a textbook prescribed by the Bombay University contained an essay, 'The Charisma of Rajesh Khanna!' Rajesh Khanna formed a brilliant combination with director Shakti Samanta, Music Director R.D. Burman and 'his voice', singer Kishore Kumar resulting in such films like Kati Patang (1970) and Amar Prem (1971). With Hrishikesh Mukherjee, he gave fine performances in Bawarchi (1972) and Namak Haram (1973) ably carrying both films on his shoulders. The same year (1973) also saw him score with a strong performance in Aavishkaar, Basu Bhattacharya's realistic study of a marriage gone sour.

Than suddenly everything went through squally and smothering weather within just five years. The dream slowly showed signed of turning into a nightmare and finally turned out into one of the most stupefying and stunning nightmare of all time. The God fell from his pedestal. His magic failed and refused to come back. He had ten major flops in a row which marked the beginning of the end..

Rajesh Khanna By this time however, Rajesh Khanna's films had started flopping but he failed to see the writing on the wall as the success of films like Daag (1973), Namak Haram, Aap ki Kasam (1974), Prem Nagar (1974) and Roti (1974) still kept him afloat. Also Amitabh Bachchan had stormed the Industry with his intense 'angry young man' performance in Zanjeer (1973). With his tall and lean looks, Amitabh became emblematic of the new kind of action hero. Every hero fell to the Amitabh onslaught and Rajesh Khanna was no exception.

In the late 1960s, Khanna dated Anju Mahendru. The couple eventually drifted apart, and split in the early-1970s. He married Dimple Kapadia, a Gujarati, in 1973 In the late 1960s, Khanna dated Anju Mahendru. The couple eventually drifted apart, and split in the early-1970s. He married Dimple Kapadia, a Gujarati, in 1973 and has two daughters from the marriage. Soon the marriage led to a separation of ways.Khanna and Dimple Kapadia separated in 1984, as his schedule kept him away much of the time and she became interested in pursuing an acting career. After the separation, Tina Munim was romantically linked with Khanna, but the relationship was short-lived. Following a few years of separation, the relationship between Kapadia and Khanna blossomed once again, and remained that of close friends. Their elder daughter Twinkle , an interior decorator and also a former Hindi film actress, is married to actor Akshay Kumar and younger daughter Rinkie, also an Indian actress is married to an entrepreneur Sameer Saran. The actor in him showed signs of rising with films like "Thodisi Bewafaai", "Amardeep" and "Prem Nagar" but they were just sparks in the growing darkness that was surrounding him on all sight. He was loosing faith in himself, his God and the same people who worshipped him and were willing to live and die for him also lost faith in him. His misery reached its peak and a point of no returns when that nobody who was his co-star in "Anand' and "Namak Haram" , Amitabh Bachchan snatched his throne and everything that was his and left him staggering.

The actor in him tried to shine as an elderly character in films like "Avtaar" and "Amrit" but it was too late. His time had come to an and before its prime for reasons people are still trying to find out.

He tried to make it as a producer of film but failed miserably.

With Amitabh's success, different kind of movies began to be made with a stronger accent on action. Rajesh Khanna's romantic mannerisms now appeared jaded and out of synchronization with the times. Even films with old regulars Shakti Samanta (Ajnabi (1974), Mehbooba (1976), Anurodh (1977)) and Hrishida (Naukri (1978)) came unstuck at the box-office. What's more both Shakti Samanta and Hrishida went on do a series of films with the new superstar, Amitabh Bachchan! And to top it all, even his marriage to Dimple was on the rocks and subsequently she left him and resumed her acting career with much success.

Though Amardeep (1979) and Thodisi Bewafayi (1980) brought Rajesh Khanna some reprieve, it was the triple success of Agar Tum Na Hote (1983), Avtaar (1983) and Souten (1983) that proved to be the last strong flickers in a dying flame. Avtaar particularly saw a good performance from him in the role of a self-respecting garage mechanic. During that period he appeared in Khudai (1994) and won Best Actor Award at Ujvegistan at Russian Film Festival. He made his acting comeback with three to four years gaps in Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999) and Kyaa Dil Ne Kahaa (2002) where he played elderly father roles. In 2006 he appeared in Jaana - Let's Fall in Love But in 2007 he has officially announced his second innings and has signed about ten new films simultaneously and some new TV serials. He is also going to participate as Celebrity Judge in a reality show at Sony Channel called K for Kishore, based on the legendary singer late Kishore Kumar Ganguly.

In the 1990s with his film career all but over, Rajesh Khanna entered politics and even served a stint as Member of Parliament with the Congress - I Party. He joined politics and met with his Waterloo because he never could get the hang of the real business of politics. Between 1991 and 1996, Rajesh Khanna was a member of Parliament for the Congress Party, from the New Delhi constituency. He has since been a political activist for the Congress Party.

In 2001-2002, Rajesh Khanna played major roles in two television serials: Aapne Parai (B4U & DD Metro) and Ittefaqu (Zee TV).He performed in a video album based on Tagore's immortal songs (Rabindra Sangeet) free of cost. Currently he is busy in processing his own music channel viz. R.K. Music Channel.He has recently endorsed a talent hunt programme namely "Star se Superstar tak" as the First Superstar of Indian Cinema, under the banner of Red Carpet Entertainment and donated a Gold Trophy of Rs.1 Crore with Ms. Priyanka Chopra.Recently he has signed a TV serial with Creative Eye Banner (Dhiraj Kumar).He is also participating as Celebrity Judge in a reality show at Sony Channel called K for Kishore, based on the legendary singer late Kishore Kumar Ganguly.He is also going to perform in a T.V. Serial Bhabhima with Leena Ganguly as Lead Pair of the serial.

He now lives with memories that haunt him. Rajesh Khanna will always live as a lesson for all the stars and super stars who are and who will be.

Super Star Rajesh Khanna irrevocably impacted Indian cinema and culture like no actor before him. His acting perfection and application of talent were drawn solely from his inward vision. Super Star Rajesh Khanna did not cultivate the phenomenal attributes that created his "superstardom" by reason or will, but through the connectedness to his own persona that the masses then idealized. For he is one who is impervious as to who is ahead and who is behind. Super Star Rajesh Khanna?s inward vision, a special gift from the divine leads him always. Today he is the indomitable and highly respected veteran of one hindred and fifty films. For me, he is like the Cary Grant of India. Both actors are Capricorns that have played the widest variety of roles without ever bankrupting the fascination of the audience. Super Star Rajesh Khanna is the platinum standard for landmark performances and sheer screen presence. Ever since the camera discovered his photogenia it has been having a love affair with it. His Byronic inspirations of romance as autographed elegantly on screen endure. Super Star Rajesh Khanna is a Greatest Legend because he kindles our affections at the highest denominators and that is a life nobly lived means.

Awards

Filmfare Awards

Won

1970 – Filmfare Best Actor Award for Sachcha Jhutha

1971 – Filmfare Best Actor Award for Anand

1973 – Special Award for Guest appearance for Anurag

1974 – Filmfare Best Actor Award for Aavishkaar

1990 – Special Award for graceful completion of twenty-five years most successful career in the film industry

2005 – Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award

Nominated


1969 – Filmfare Best Actor Award for Aradhana

1969 – Filmfare Best Actor Award for Ittefaq

1971 – Filmfare Best Actor Award for Kati Patang

1972 – Filmfare Best Actor Award for Dushman

1972 – Filmfare Best Actor Award for Amar Prem

1973 – Filmfare Best Actor Award for Daag

1974 – Filmfare Best Actor Award for Prem Nagar

1979 – Filmfare Best Actor Award for Amar Deep

1980 – Filmfare Best Actor Award for Thodi Si Bewafai

1981 – Filmfare Best Actor Award for Dard

1983 – Filmfare Best Actor Award for Avtaar

Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards


1971 – Winner BFJA Awards, Best Actor for Anand

1972 – Winner BFJA Awards, Best Actor for Bawarchi

1974 – Winner BFJA Awards, Best Actor for Namak Haraam

1987 – Winner BFJA Awards, Best Actor for Amrit


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004435/bio

http://in.movies.yahoo.com/artists/Rajesh-...ography-59.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajesh_Khanna

http://www.bollywoodgate.com/indian-actors...esh-khanna.html

http://manoharv2001.rediffiland.com/blogs/...Biography-1.htm

This post has been edited by rashmi mehta: Apr 4 2009, 09:28 AM

[swarapriya]

Thank you Rashmiji. That is quite a treatise on Rajesh. Thanks for taking time in posting so many details.

Cheers,
Swarapriya