Throwback: Rajesh Khanna, the first superstar of Bollywood, had a different status in the film industry. Rajesh Khanna, who won the hearts of people with his powerful acting on the big screen, was also a favorite of his fans in real life. Rajesh Khanna had worked in many great Bollywood films. Rajesh Khanna started his film career in the year 1966. After this, he never looked back.
By the beginning of the 70s, Rajesh Khanna had become a superstar. He had received a tag that no other actor had received before him. During Rajesh Khanna’s time, a saying was in news – ‘Upar ka neeche kaka’.
Fans used to lovingly call Rajesh Khanna ‘Kaka’. The period from 1969 to 1972 was very special for Rajesh Khanna. During this period, he gave 15 consecutive hit films which made him the first superstar of Hindi cinema. During this period, one of his films came which had neither any song nor any interval.
This nearly two hours long film took only 20 days to be made. It was a suspense filled film. Its name was ‘Ittefaq’. This superb film of Rajesh Khanna was released in the year 1969. It has been 54 years since the release of this film. Apart from Rajesh Khanna, actors like Madan Puri, Sujit Kumar, Nanda and Bindu also played important roles in this film directed by Yash Chopra.
Rajesh Khanna’s film ‘Ittefaq’ proved to be a hit. The audience liked it a lot. The duration of this film was two and a quarter hours. The suspense did not disappear even for a moment in the film. ‘Ittefaq’, full of suspense, won Yash Chopra the Best Director Award at Filmfare.
The first Bollywood movie that did not have an interval
There is an interval in every film but there was no interval in Rajesh Khanna’s film. This film ran continuously for almost two hours. It is worth mentioning that this is the first Hindi film in which there is no interval.
‘Ittefaq’ was made again in 2017, but the audience rejected it
Almost 48 years after the release of ‘Ittefaq’, a film with the same name was made in Bollywood once again. Siddharth Malhotra, Akshay Khanna and Sonakshi Sinha worked in the film ‘Ittefaq’ released in the year 2017. However, this film directed by Abhay Chopra was rejected by the audience.