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Rajesh Khanna

The Bollywood film industry or Hindi film industry is the largest in India. Not only this, the Bollywood industry is one of the most successful film industries in the whole world today. Many actors and actresses have worked in the history of Bollywood till now, but only some of them get popular and rule audience’s hearts with their acting skills and unique style. Today in this article, we shall explore one of the most legendary actors in the Bollywood industry ever, who is also known as the First Superstar of Bollywood or Indian Cinema. Read on to know about Rajesh Khanna.

About

• Real/Full Name: Jatin Chunnilal Khanna
• Nick Name: Kaka, RK, Shehzada, The Original King of Romance, Pasha of Passion, First Indian Superstar, Most Versatile Superstar of Hindi Cinema
• Professions: Actor, Politician.
• Date of Birth/Birthday: 29 December 1942
• Date of Death:18 July 2012 at the age of 69 years.
• Nationality: Indian
• Zodiac Sign: Capricorn
• Birth Place: Amritsar, Punjab, India

Rajesh Khanna is one of the most successful and popular Bollywood actors ever. We can imagine his popularity with one fact that he is known as the first superstar of the Indian Cinema. People also affectionately call him Kaka. He was not only a great actor, but he was also one of the successful film producer and politicians. He has given 15 consecutive hit films, which is a great achievement. We all know him by the name of Rajesh Khanna, but his real name was Jatin Khanna. He has received 5 Filmfare Awards and 4 Bafza Awards for his brilliant acting; not only this, but he was also awarded Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in the year 2013. Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award, and he was awarded this award after his death.

Early Life and Education

• School: St. Sebastian’s Goan High School
• College: Nowrosjee Wadia College, Pune and K. C. College, Mumbai
• Educational Qualification: Graduate, BA

In Amritsar city, Punjab state of India, Rajesh Khanna was born on December 29 1942, in the family of Hindu Khatri. His name was Jatin Khanna in his childhood. His father’s name was Lala Hiranand Khanna, while his mother was Chandrani Khanna. His father was a teacher who taught at the MC High School in Burewala (Today in Pakistan). After a few years, his father’s relative adopted him and nurtured him. Chunnilal Khanna and Leelawati Khanna were his adoptive parents. Chunnilal Khanna was the railway contractor. After this, in 1935, Rajesh Khanna moved to Mumbai with his adoptive parents. After coming to Mumbai, he took admission to St. Sebastian’s Goan High School for his studies. Ravi Kapoor, also known as superstar Jeetendra, also took admission to this school with Rajesh Khanna.

Rajesh Khanna wanted to become an actor, and due to his interest in acting, he used to do a lot of stage shows during his school and college days. Also, he won many awards and prizes for it. After studying at St. Sebastian’s Goan High School, he got admission to one of the famous colleges of Pune Nowrosjee Wadia College in 1959 to complete his bachelor’s degree in Arts. He studied for two years, from 1959 to 1961, at this college, and after this, in the year 1961, he took admission to Kishinchand Chellaram College or KC College, one of the most famous colleges in Mumbai, for his further studies. Moreover, his friend Jitendra studied at Siddharth Jain College.

Starting Film Career of Rajesh Khanna

Rajesh Khanna was more interested in acting since childhood, but his biological father did not want him to become an actor, but he had decided in his childhood that he wanted to become an actor only. That’s why when he was in college, he did many theatre plays, many stage programs, and many drama competitions. In the year 1962, he played the role of a wounded silent soldier in the play. The play’s name was Andha Yug, and he nailed his role and impressed everyone with his acting skills and amazing performance. The chief guest of this show was so impressed by Rajesh Khanna’s acting that he also said that soon you would get a chance to act in a film.

Filmy Career of Rajesh Khanna

All-India Talent Contest was held in 1965, and Rajesh Khanna also participated in this contest along with other 10000 participants. This contest was organized by Filmfare and United Producer. Moreover, among more than 10000 participants, he was one of the eight finalists. He was not only among the eight finalists, but he also won this contest; Farida Jalal was also another winner of this contest.

After winning this contest, Rajesh Khanna became popular, and many directors and producers of the Hindi film industry started knowing him. Moreover, one year later, after winning this contest, the first debut film of Rajesh Khanna was released. The film’s name was Aakhri Khat, and the director of this film was Chetan Anand. Next year another film of his which was directed by Ravindra Dave, Raaz, was released. Both these films were offered to him as a prize for winning the All-India Talent Contest. After doing this film, he did act in a film like Aurat, which was released in 1967, Baharon Ke Sapne, which was also released in 1967, Doli, released in 1969, Aradhana, released in 1969; and Ittefaq, which was also released in 1969.

Slowly Rajesh Khanna started becoming popular, and people started liking to watch his movies. He worked in many films in the first 4 years, and because of this, he got a lot of popularity. Many critics praised him for his great performance in films like Ittefaq, Baharon Ke Sapne, Aurat, Doli, and Aradhana. Aradhana was the film that made Rajesh Khanna a superstar overnight, and after seeing this film, the film critics started calling Rajesh Khanna the first superstar of Indian Cinema. Most of the songs in Rajesh Khanna’s movies were by Kishore Kumar, and as long as Kishore Kumar was alive, he was the playback singer of Rajesh Khanna.

In 1971, another such film came, which proved to be very good for Rajesh Khanna’s film career; and name of this film was Haathi Mere Saathi, and M. A. Thirumugam directed this film. This film was the highest-grossing film of that year and not only this; this film broke the records of all previous films. It is said that Rajesh Khanna was the first person who gave a chance to Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan to write the screenplay for the first time for his film Haathi Mere Saathi.

From 1969 to 1971, Rajesh Khana gave 17 straight hit films as the lead hero, including 15 solo hero films and two non-solo hero films. The name of 15 consicutive hit film of Rajesh Khanna as solo hero are Do Raaste, Aradhana, Ittefaq, Aan Milo Sajna, The Train, Khamoshi, Safar, Doli, Bandhan, Haathi Mere Saathi, Choti Bahu, Anand, Mehboob Ki Mehendi, Kati Patang, Sachaa Jhutha. Andaz and Maryada was a non-solo hero film by Rajesh Khanna, which was also hit between 1969 to 1971. This record has been unbreakable till now.

After this, Rajesh Khanna worked in many films, and he also worked in his first Telegu film, Bangaru Babu, in 1973. Many of the films were super hit at the box office and loved by the audience. Rajesh Khanna was the highest-paid actor in the Indian cinema from the year 1970 to 1980. Every director and producer wanted Rajesh Khanna in their films. Rajesh Khanna acted in more than 180 films during his lifetime, many films of which were all-time blockbusters.

Some Famous and Popular Films of Rajesh Khanna

Ittefaq, Baharon Ke Sapne, Haathi Mere Saathi, Do Raaste, Aradhana, Ittefaq, Aan Milo Sajna, The Train, Khamoshi, Safar, Doli, Bandhan, Choti Bahu, Anand, Mehboob Ki Mehendi, Kati Patang, Sachaa Jhutha, Amar Prem, Apna Desh, Mere Jeevan Saathi, Daag, Amar Deep, Bandish, Phir Wohi Raat, Anurodh, Dushmun, Aavishkar, Do Raaste, Roti, Aap Ki Kasam, Avtaar, Safar, Andaz, Swarg, Anand, Bawarchi, Namak Haraam, Daag: A Poem of Love, Kudrat, Aakhri Khat, Ajanabee, and many more.

Political Career of Rajesh Khanna

Rajesh Khanna was also successful in his political career, but not like his acting career. Seeing the popularity of Rajesh Khanna, Rajiv Gandhi requested him to join the Congress party, and on many requests, he joined the Congress and also started campaigning after 1984 for the congress party. In the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party made Rajesh Khanna the Congress candidate for the New Delhi Constituency seat. Moreover, Bhartiya Janta party founder L.K. Advani also contested against him from the same seat. In this election, Rajesh Khanna lost by 1589 votes, and L.K. Advani won from here. After this, he accused L.K. Advani of winning by cheating.

After this, for some reason, L.K. Advani resigned in 1992, and re-election was held for the New Delhi seat in the same year 1992; this time again, Rajesh Khanna contested the election from the New Delhi seat. Shatrughan Sinha, also a superstar in Indian cinema, contested the election opposite him from here, but this time Rajesh Khanna won from here by more than 25,000 votes after defeating Shatrughan Sinha, and he became a member of the parliament from 1992 to 1996 in New Delhi constituency seat. When Rajesh Khana became the Member of Parliament, he acted in only one film, and he spent the rest of the time for the public’s welfare. After this, he was not interested in politics and never again contested any election, but he was an active member of the Indian Congress party until the 2012 Punjab election and did many campaigns for the party.

Marriage and Children

At the time of his starting acting career, Rajesh Khanna fell in love with Anju Mahendru, who is an actress and fashion designer, and both of them lived in a relationship for about seven years, but due to some reason, the couple broke their relationship after seven-year in 1972. Mahendru once revealed that they didn’t talk to each other after the end of their relationship for 17 years. After this, he came into a relationship with Dimple Kapadia and married her in 1973. She is also an actress in Indian cinema.

After some years of marriage, the distance between Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia started increasing. There was nothing between them like earlier, and they both wanted to separate from each other because of all this. Finally, after nine years of marriage, they both separated from each other in 1982.

It is said that Dimple Kapadia wanted to act again and work in films, but Rajesh Khanna did not want this; he wanted that his wife must become the housewife, but Dimple Kapadia did not listen to him, and due to this, both of them separated from each other. Both of them never got divorced but only got separated from each other.

Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia had two daughters from this marriage. The first daughter’s name is Twinkle Khanna, who was born in the year 1974 on 29 December, and the second daughter’s name is Rinke Khanna, who was born in the year 1977 on 27 July. Rajesh Khanna’s elder daughter is an actress and interior decorator who married Bollywood’s famous actor Akshay Kumar in 2001, and they have two kids, one son, and one daughter. Moreover, Rajesh Khanna’s younger daughter is also an actress, married to Samir Saran, an investment banker.

Death

Rajesh Khanna’s health was not keeping well since June 2012, and due to this, on 23 June, he was admitted to Lilavati Hospital, which is in Mumbai. After spending some days in the hospital, when his health improved, he returned to his home on 8 July, but again on 14 July, he was admitted to Lilavati Hospital but discharged after two days on 16 July. Suddenly on 18 July 2012, his health deteriorated, and he died in his Ashirwad Bungalow in Mumbai. According to the source, he has fought cancer for several years. Rajesh Khana’s funeral was done on 19 July, in which more than 9 lakh people came to pay their last tribute to him. His ashes were immersed in the Ganges in Rishikesh on 25 July by his wife, Dimple Kapadia, and their daughter Rinke Khanna.

Rajesh Khanna Body Measurements / Physical Statistics

• Height in Feet Inches: 5.8 Feet
• Weight in Kilograms: 86 kg
• Eye Colour: Black
• Hair Colour: Black

Rajesh Khanna’s Favourites Things and Like & Dislike

• Favourite Actor: Guru Dutt, Dilip Kumar.
• Favourite Actress: Meena Kumari, Geeta Bali.
• Favourite Color: Red

Rajesh Khanna’s Marriage and Children

• Marital Status: Married, Dimple Kapadia
• Children:Twinkle Khanna, Rinke Khanna

Award and Achievements

In the history of Indian cinema, there has been no actor like Rajesh Khanna, and hardly anyone will be in the future. Due to his excellent acting, many people consider Rajesh Khanna as his ideal, an actor like Shahrukh khan, who is considered a romantic hero, also considers there was only one perfect romantic hero in the history of Indian cinema that is Rajesh Khanna. Due to his brilliant acting, he not only won the heart of many people in the world but also won many awards; let’s see some awards won by Rajesh Khanna.

• He won the Filmfare Awards for the Bollywood film Sachaa Jhutha in 1971, Anand in 1972, and Avishkaar in 1975, in the Best Actor category. Apart from this, he has also won the Filmfare Awards for the Bollywood film Anuraag in 1973, in the Special Award category. He also received the Lifetime Achievement Award by Filmfare in 2005 and Special Award in 1991 for completing a 25-year successful career in Bollywood film.
• He also won the Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards four times in the best actor category for films like Anand, Bawarchi, Namak Haraam, and Amrit in the years 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1987.
• In 2005 he also won Stardust Awards in the Pride of Film Industry Award category.
• In the year 2001, he also received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Contribution to Indian Cinema from Zee Cine.
• Rajesh Khanna has also received the International Indian Film Academy Awards, All India Critics Association Awards, Apsara FilmAward, Television Producers Guild Awards, Yugantar Gaurav Puraska, Sansui Film Awards, Pune International Film Festival Award, Bollywood Movie Awards, Kala Ratna Award, Mother Teresa Award, Tamil Cine World Awards and many more for his superb acting.
• He was awarded with one of the country’s third-highest civilian honours, the Padma Bhushan, in 2013, after his death.

Conclusion

Rajesh Khanna is no longer in this world, but as long as Indian cinema is there, the name of Rajesh Khanna will continue to be taken. He was the first Superstar in the Hindi film industry, and the position he has achieved in the film industry is very hard for any other actor to achieve.

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