Rajesh Khanna| Career of Indian first and most versatile Superstar- Rajesh khanna

RAJESH KHANNA

Rajesh Khanna, born Jatin Khanna; (29 December 1942 – 18 July 2012) was an Indian actor, film producer, and politician who is best known for his work in the Hindi cinema. He is referred to as the "First Superstar" of Indian cinema. He starred in 15 consecutive solos hit films from 1969 to 1971, a record unbroken. Khanna is one of the most successful actors in the history of Indian Cinema.

He even holds the record for the movie Anand whose IMDB rating is highest to date.

Khanna won seven All-India Critics Association (AICA) Best Actor Awards and received 10 nominations. He won four Best Actor Awards in the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards and received 25 nominations. He won three Filmfare Best Actor Awards, one Filmfare Special Guest Actor Award in 1973, and received a Filmfare Special Award in 1991, after 25 years in the Hindi film industry. He received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award at the 50th anniversary Filmfare Awards ceremony in 2005. He also received the IIFA Lifetime Achievement award in 2009.

Introduction video:

Wanna get a glimpse of this legendary actor? Know most of the things about Rajesh Khanna and his evergreen film career and his superstardom by viewing this video.

Personal details
Born	Jatin Khanna 29 December 1942 Amritsar, Punjab, British India (present-day Punjab, India)
Died	18 July 2012 (aged 69) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)	Dimple Kapadia (m. 1973; sep. 1982)
Domestic partner	Tina Munim (1982–1987) Anju Mahendru (1966–1972)[1]
Children	Twinkle Khanna Rinke Khanna
Relatives	Akshay Kumar (son-in-law) Simple Kapadia (sister-in-law)
Residence	Aashirwad, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Education	K. C. College
Occupation	Film actor producer politician
Awards	Padma Bhushan (2013)
Signature

Related Facts:

1. Rajesh Khanna, the first superstar of Indian and Hindi Cinema with 74 Golden Jubilee Hits - (which includes 48 Platinum Jubilee hits and 26 Golden Jubilee Hits) & in addition had 22 Silver Jubilee Hits and 9 average hits, was born on 29 December 1942 in Amritsar, Punjab, India.
2. Rajesh entered Hindi films in the year 1965 when he began shooting for Raaz and did 180 films - 163 feature films and 17 short films. By 2011, he held the record for the maximum number of films as the solo lead hero and least number of multi-star cast films in the Hindi Cinema. Of the 163 films - 106 were solo hero films and 22 were multi-star films and 29 films had him in special effective guest appearances(though only 97 solo and 20 two-hero films only released and 11 unreleased from 1966 till 2013).
3. He ranked first and won the United Producers All India Contest held in 1965 by beating 10000 candidates and the prize of it was acting in films Akhri Khat and Raaz. He first tasted success as an actor with 3 consecutive hit films like Aakhri Khat, Raaz, and Aurat. His first brush with super-stardom was when outburst from his fans forced the director to change the story of Baharaon Ke Sapne's ending from a tragic one to a happy one after 1 week of its release.
4. Though Baharaon Ke Sapne was average in some centers it was declared flop in most places. In 1969 Rajesh Khanna achieved super-stardom with Shakti Samantha's 'Aradhana" (1969). He became the craze of the nation, and critics across India started calling him the First Superstar of both Indian Cinema (No. 1 Actor) and Hindi Films and remained so alone as the Superstar for 7 years (1969-1976) and had to share the status with Amitabh from 1977-1991 till he left films to join politics in 1991.
5. The main difference between him and his predecessors, successors, contemporaries was that Khanna's films ran successfully in the whole of India and not just Hindi speaking areas and he did films of every genre simultaneously and has more critically acclaimed films to his credit than all other Hindi Actors of every generation. He stands out even by the selection of his films as he regularly did both offbeat alternate cinema along with commercial potboiler films and had success in both. He introduced intelligent cinema to the masses with ease. Those 15 consecutive hit solo lead hero films from 1969-71 were Aradhana, Doli, Bandhan, Ittefaq, Do Raaste, Khamoshi, Safar, The Train, Kati Patang, Sacha Jhutha, Aan Milo Sajna, Mehboob Ki Mehendi, Choti Bahu, Anand, and Haathi Mere Saathi. His next release Maalik flopped ending thereby the record.

When Jatin took an interest in acting, his rich foster father disapproved, however, Jatin persisted and won first prize in the Filmfare Talent Contest where he was chosen in final eight from among 10000 contestants who participated in 1965. His uncle K.K.Talwar advised him to replace his first name from Jatin to Rajesh while entering in the contest. The contest gave him his debut film Raaz. But his first release was off-beat 'Aakhri Khat' opposite, Indrani Mukherjee.

Rajesh Khanna's Stardom Facts:

• Sharmila Tagore said in an 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 or since."
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• 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' respectively. Even today, he remains the favorite of mimicry artists, who copy his trademark style and dialogue delivery.
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• During the filming of Amar Prem there was a scene that needed to be shot at Howrah Bridge with a boat carrying Khanna and Sharmila under the bridge. The authorities ruled this scene out as they realized that if the public found out that the star would be there, it may create problems on the bridge and that it might collapse due to the number of people trying to get a glimpse of their favorite actor.^[62] 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."
• Rajesh acted alongside Mumtaz in eight films. They were neighbors and got along very well, which translated onto the screen. Mumtaz stated "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."

Reactions about him:

• Shah Rukh Khan reacted by saying: "To live with intention and walk to the edge. Play with abandon, choose with no regret. Smile and made us do the same. Sir, you defined our era. Whenever life felt tough you made us feel how love could change it all. RIP ". Mumtaz also added that she had memories of having worked with him and said that she had been crying the whole morning, but was happy that she had met the ailing Rajesh Khanna in Mumbai in June 2012, when the two discussed their respective battles with cancer. While Shahid Kapoor quoted: "RIP to the First King of Romance ... Rajesh Khanna." Subhash Ghai added that Khanna " was the powerhouse of the Hindi film industry. I met him on the set of Aradhana, he had some kind of energy and you will be charged when he is around you. His name will be written in golden words." Amitabh Bachchan was quoted as saying: "The word 'Superstar' was invented for him, and for me, it shall ever remain his, and no others .. !! His generation and the generations that follow shall never be able to describe, or understand his phenomena .. !!". His son-in-law Akshay Kumar told reporters about his death and added that "he has gone to a nice and heavenly place. I am happy that he has gone there and hope that everyone will pray for him." Kumar also said on a Facebook post "To Mr. Rajesh Khanna, they make very few like you, you are a father, a Legend & a very treasured man, who will never be forgotten."
• Vyjayanthimala commented that "His death is a big loss to the industry. It's my bad luck that I didn't have the chance to work with him because he came much later. I remember when he came to Chennai for some film shoot, the college girls went crazy to catch a glimpse of him when he was going to his studio." Manna Dey said: "He was a great actor, truly a superstar, no doubt about it. I am honored to have done playback for him. I have worked for him in several movies, and actors like him are a rarity." Mrinal Sen recollected how Khanna had wanted to cast him in one of his films, but the latter could not manage due to date problems. "We had met several times. Once I had wanted to cast him in one of my films, but somehow that didn't work out due to his date problems."
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• Buddhadeb Dasgupta said Khanna's acting would continue to inspire young actors in the future. "He was a great actor and was the first superstar. He was a much bigger star than Amitabh Bachchan. His acting will continue to inspire young actors of the coming generations." Rituparno Ghosh said: "In the film 'Anand', he delivered some of Indian cinema's most memorable dialogues. The use of the word 'Babu Moshai' by Rajesh Khanna to Amitabh Bachchan, who played a Bengali doctor in the film, is so deeply etched in the minds of Indians that it has almost become a synonym for Bengalis for the rest of the countrymen. "In a dhoti and kurta, you showed the rest of India how truly elegant Bengal was" Madhur Bhandarkar said, "The epitome of superstardom is no more amongst us. There was none, there is none and there won't be any like you, Kakaji."
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• Condolences also came from Pakistan where Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf called Khanna a "great actor whose contribution to the field of films and arts would be long remembered. [He had a] large fan following across the borders and captivated audiences with his excellent acting skills." Ali Zafar wrote on Twitter: "Rajesh Khanna – RIP. So many fond memories from his movies and songs.", while Syed Noor said: "Rajesh Khanna was such a huge actor of the subcontinent that he will be remembered by the people for many years to come. The era he reigned over is unlikely to be experienced by any other actor of this subcontinent." Geo TV also aired a nearly hour-long tribute with contributions from actors, filmmakers, and musicians.

For his versatile and memorable film era, view his filmography:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajesh_Khanna_filmography

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Kindly, the Information source is: Wikipedia and IMDB