During his career, he appeared in 163 films of which 105 had him as the solo lead hero and 21 were two hero projects. He won three Filmfare Best Actor Awards and was nominated for the same fourteen times. He received the maximum BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) – four times and nominated 25 times. He was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005. Khanna is referred to as the “First Superstar” of Hindi cinema. He made his debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat and rose to prominence with his performances in films like Raaz, Baharon Ke Sapne, Ittefaq and Aradhana.
Khanna was born in Amritsar on 29 December 1942. He was adopted and raised by foster parents who were relatives of his biological parents. Khanna lived in Thakurdwar near Girgaon. Khanna attended St. Sebastian’s Goan High School in Girgaum, along with his friend Ravi Kapoor, who later took the stage name Jeetendra. Their mothers were friends. Khanna gradually started taking interest in theatre and did a lot of plays in his school and college days and won many prizes in the inter college drama competitions. Khanna became a rare newcomer who struggled in his own MG sports car to get work in theatre and films in the early sixties. Both friends later studied in Kishinchand Chellaram College(KC). When Jeetendra went for his first film audition, it was Khanna who tutored him. Khanna's uncle changed Khanna's first name to Rajesh when Khanna decided to join films. His friends and his wife call him Kaka.
Adult Life
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Khanna fell in love with the then fashion designer and actress Anju Mahendru.They were in the relationship for seven years. Mahendru states that the couple did not speak to each other for 17 years after the breakup.Later Khanna married Dimple Kapadia in 1973 and has two daughters from the marriage.Khanna and Dimple Kapadia separated in 1984 as his schedule kept him away much of the time and Dimple became interested in pursuing an acting career,and thereafter lived separately, but did not complete the divorce proceedings.In the eighties Tina Munim was romantically involved with Khanna till the time she decided to leave the industry to pursue her higher studies. Years of separation brought about mutual understanding between Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia.Reporter Dinesh Raheja stated that “the bitterness between Rajesh and Dimple washed away", noting that they are seen together at parties and that Dimple campaigned for Khanna's election and also worked in his film.Their elder daughter Twinkle Khanna, an interior decorator and a former film actress, is married to actor Akshay Kumar while their younger daughter Rinke Khanna, also a former Hindi film actress, is married to a London-based investment banker Samir Saran.
Happy Birthday !
Super Star Rajesh Khanna - The oniairgl phenomenon of Indian cinemaHe is an unique mix of style and substance. Super Star Rajesh Khanna rewrote cinematic performance's syntax, yet will be remembered as a peerless romantic hero forever. He has established himself as a most successful Superstar-Actor-both as a romantic hero and a most versatile serious actor, who can perform emotions and inner feelings with depth effortlessly. He ruled Bollywood like no one else before as well as after him. His class movies like Anand, Aradhna, Dushman, Haathi Mere Saathi, Amar Prem, Avataar, Prem Nagar, Amar Deep, Dard, Babu, Amrit, etc., etc., etc. got him a place of honour in Indian cinema's hall of fame in such a manner that nobody can be matched with him in terms of balancing artistic and commercial aspects simultaneously.
ReplyDelete