By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
Jatin Khanna, who rose to starry heights with his screen name Rajesh Khanna, in late 1960s, was born on 29 December 1942 at Amritsar in Punjab. He is credited with being the ‘First Superstar’ of the Hindi films owing to his 15 consecutive hits in a row between 1969 to 1971 the likes of “Aradhana”, ” Do Raaste” , “The Train”, “Sachcha Jhuthaa”, “Aan Milo Sajna”, “Safar”.”, “Khamoshi”, “Kati patang”, “Anand”,”Amar Prem” “Andaaz”, ” Haathi Mere Saathi” & “Maryada”, to mention some.
Interestingly, his debut film ” Aakhri Khat”( 1966) was India’s first official Oscar entry in 1967. He was the highest paid actor & charged an exorbitant 13 lakh per film. During the making of “Ittefaq” he reportedly told the producer to buy him a bungalow in lieu of his remuneration for the film. Amitabh Bachchan rubbed shoulders with him later between 1980 to 1987 in respect of remuneration per film. Khanna ruled the roost until Amitabh Bachchan captured his bastion. Khanna won the New Delhi by-election to become an MP in 1992 and occupied the seat until 1996.
Like Raj Kapoor he, too, enjoyed with his team consisting of Kishore Kumar, R D Burman & the trio gave hits like Kati-Patang, Amar Prem, Shehzada, Apna Desh, Mere Jeevan Saathi, Aap Ki Kasam, Ajnabee, Namak Haraam, Kudrat, Ashanti, Agar Tum Na Hote, to mention some.It would be injustice if we did not mention ” Bawarchi” ( 1972), ” Mehbooba”,( 1976), “Rajput” (1982), & ” Souten” ( 1983).Khanna had a long affair with Anju Mahendru. In 1973 he married the budding actress Dimple Kapadia months before the release of her debut film ” Bobby”. The couple was blessed with two daughters Twinkle & Rinkie ,the former being married to actor Akshay Kumar. Khanna wanted Dimple to quit films but she refused to do so. Resultantly, they separated amicably in 1984,though unofficially. Tina Munim later entered his life & remained with him for some years.
The madness of his female fans for him was unbelievably amazing. There is no denying the fact that he cast a magical spell on cine goers in general and his female fans in particular. Some saw magic in his style. Others said there was magic in his eyes. Some, however, found magic in his smile. In fact, Khanna took his female fans to a fantasy world hitherto unknown to them. The craziness amongst his female fans can be best exemplified by the fact that many of them got their inner parts tattooed with his name. Many sent blood stained letters to the actor expressing their adulation.
I met the charismatic star twice in life. First during the shooting of film “Woh Phir Aayegi” in 1987-88 and later on the location shooting of ” Rupaye Dus Crore ” in Himachal Pradesh. My photographs with Rajesh Khanna & Dilip Kumar have been removed from my albums twice by some of my acquaintances without my knowledge. Khanna received 5 Filmfare Awards including Lifetime Achievement Award besides 11 Nominations as Best Actor.
