Rajesh Khanna Death Anniversary: An actor of Bollywood who saw the heights of his life but also saw his stardom fall. An actor who used to go in a car to ask for work in films and always went to meet the producer without permission. Every girl was crazy about that actor and a 15 year old girl also fell in love with him.
The name of that incomparable actor was Rajesh Khanna who died on this day. Today it has been 12 years since Rajesh Khanna’s death. On this occasion, let us tell you some ups and downs of his career.
Who was Rajesh Khanna?
Jatin Khanna was born on 29 December 1942 in Amritsar, Punjab. Jatin belonged to a wealthy family but after the partition of the country, his father lost his job and it was becoming difficult for him to raise the children. Then he gave the responsibility of raising Jatin Khanna to one of his relatives. That relative was an officer in the Railway Department in Mumbai.
Jatin Khanna had a good upbringing. He was brought up with a lot of love and care in school and college. He was fond of acting since childhood, so he used to play in school and college. Jatin Khanna’s maternal uncle said that if he wanted to work in films, he should change his name and ask people for work with that name, then his maternal uncle named him Rajesh Khanna.
Rajesh Khanna’s struggle and first film
At that time, Rajesh Khanna, who was about 23 years old, was looking for work in films like crazy but nothing was happening. Then his uncle told him that there is a club where big film producers come, go there. Here Rajesh Khanna met a man who told him about the Filmfare Talent Hunt Show, then Rajesh Khanna participated in it. It is said that out of about 10 thousand contestants, Rajesh Khanna won the trophy and he got his first film Raaz (1967) but during the same time he also got the film Aakhri Raat (1966) and it was released first.
It is said that both these films were successful and then when Rajesh Khanna used to go to ask for work, he used to go in his own car. He used to go to the producer’s cabin without asking anyone, when he used to come late on the sets of films and if anyone said anything to him, he used to say clearly, ‘I cannot change my lifestyle for films and career.’ Rajesh Khanna had such an attitude but still he used to get films because people had started liking him.
Rajesh Khanna’s stardom
In 1969, the film Aradhana (1969) took Rajesh Khanna to the peak of success. This film broke all the box office records and its songs started playing in every household. People started copying Rajesh Khanna’s style and producers started lining up outside his house.
According to media reports, in the years 1970 and 1971, Rajesh Khanna gave back to back superhit films like ‘The Train’, ‘Sachcha Jhootha’, ‘Safar’, ‘Aan Milo Sajna’, ‘Kati Patang’, ‘Haathi Mere Saath’, ‘Mehboob Ki Mehndi’, ‘Andaz’, ‘Anand’, ‘Maryada’ and by doing so, he became the first star of Hindi cinema who got the fame of a superstar.
It is said that hundreds of letters were found in the letter box of Rajesh Khanna’s house every day, and if his car was parked in the parking lot, girls would paint it red with lipstick. The actresses of that era also say that the popularity that was seen in people regarding Rajesh Khanna has not been seen in anyone till date.
The Downfall of Rajesh Khanna
In the 70s, Rajesh Khanna was at the pinnacle of his career, which was beyond everyone’s reach. But after this, his arrogance grew. Those who worked with him say that he started arriving 5 to 7 hours late on the sets of his films. Directors and producers used to get upset, but his stardom was such that no one could say anything. In 1973, Amitabh Bachchan’s first superhit film was released and around the same time, Vinod Khanna had also entered the industry.
When producers started getting options, Rajesh Khanna lost many films because of his behavior. His close friends say that Rajesh Khanna used to party all night and reach the set late in the morning and say that this is his time. By the 80s, Amitabh Bachchan, Jitendra, Dharmendra and Vinod Khanna were at their peak and Rajesh Khanna started getting fewer films.
death of rajesh khanna
In an interview of that time, Rajesh Khanna had said that his films were flopping but he was still a superstar. Well, by the 80’s, Rajesh Khanna started getting the role of a father and an elder brother and by 2000, he completely stopped working in films. Rajesh Khanna died on 18 July 2012 in Mumbai.
