My husband constantly teases me about my obsession with 60's film stars. Its true that I devote many an hour of my newly acquired free time researching on their lives. But that doesn't make me a celebrity worshiper. Frankly I don't really care about the' who is dating who' of the present times. But there is something about the yesteryear's doomed romances, bad career moves and over night successes that completely fascinates me. I take it as examples of human life as we can always find out what happened to the star later in life. And we have images from different phases of their life in celluloid and understand what time does to any living creature. Stars are no exception, try as they might time always catches up.
Lets look into the life of Rajesh Khanna , the star who is often referred as 'the original super star' of Hindi cinema.
Born as Jatin Khanna in Amritsar , Khanna was adopted and raised by foster parents in Mumbai. The young Mr Khanna started taking interest in theater from his school and college days and won many prizes. In 1965 he won a talent contest organized by United producers and Filmfare which made his way to 1966 films Akhri Khat (by Chetan Anand) and Raaz( by Ravindra Dave). These are the first images we get to see of him and we see a handsome young man in his early twenties. There is a certain vulnerability about him which actually makes him even more attractive. Then comes Baharon ke Sapne 1967 in which he acted with the fabulous Asha Parekh. I don't know if this film was a critical landmark in his early career but I can watch this video of Aja piya Tohe pyar doom a million times (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep10GUjctvw)
With Aradhana 1969 he became a national sensation. We see a more confident style of acting with that eye twitching and smile. I read in many articles that he had the largest female fan base in the history of Indian cinema. Girls were marrying themselves to his photograph. They would stand in lines just to catch a glimpse and would pull at his clothes and he often had to have police protection.
Now lets take a look at the star's personal life. He was dating the young starlet Ms Anju Mahendru at the time. Their relationship presumably withstood the craziness of his popularity and success. He was giving hit after hit and went on to give a record of 15 consecutive hits from 1969 to 1971.
1972 showed a decline in his success chart. As his films failed to do well at box office his personal life also took a toll. His relationship of 7 years with Anju Mahendru came to a bitter end. It is said that he went on to sabotage her career and married the then 16 year old Dimple Kapadia immedietly after the break up. His baraat was deliberately taken outside Anju Mahendru's house. They didn't speak to each other for 18 years.
In 1973 BBC recorded a documentary 'The Bombay superstar'. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWmucHoZN3U). We see Rajesh Khanna coming 2 hours 'fashionably' late to one of his sets, his wedding ceremony and him boycotting an award function as he was not the winner. Even the interviewers had to go to his house 5 times before he finally kept his appointment.
As years went by he saw many ups and downs in his career. In the eighties he starred in many critically acclaimed films. We see him with that special freshness of youth gone, though the larger than life 'Rajesh Khanna' charisma was still at large. Around this time his marriage to Dimple Kapadia also dissolved.
He had a successful career in the television post eighties. He also served as an M.P from 19991 - 1996.
I remember reading in a news paper many years ago that his son-in-law Akshay Kumar helped him out when his prestigious villa Aashirwaad was under the threat of being auctioned out. I wonder what made his financial situation this bad.
During his last years both his estranged wife and his first love came back to his life. Anju Mahendru reportedly held Rajesh Khanna's hand as he took his last breath .Both women were crying inconsolably at his funeral.
So what does all this teach us about life. If even stars are mere puppets at the hands of time where do us, the mere mortals stand? Then why do we still take grudges to grave?
Lets look into the life of Rajesh Khanna , the star who is often referred as 'the original super star' of Hindi cinema.
Born as Jatin Khanna in Amritsar , Khanna was adopted and raised by foster parents in Mumbai. The young Mr Khanna started taking interest in theater from his school and college days and won many prizes. In 1965 he won a talent contest organized by United producers and Filmfare which made his way to 1966 films Akhri Khat (by Chetan Anand) and Raaz( by Ravindra Dave). These are the first images we get to see of him and we see a handsome young man in his early twenties. There is a certain vulnerability about him which actually makes him even more attractive. Then comes Baharon ke Sapne 1967 in which he acted with the fabulous Asha Parekh. I don't know if this film was a critical landmark in his early career but I can watch this video of Aja piya Tohe pyar doom a million times (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep10GUjctvw)
With Aradhana 1969 he became a national sensation. We see a more confident style of acting with that eye twitching and smile. I read in many articles that he had the largest female fan base in the history of Indian cinema. Girls were marrying themselves to his photograph. They would stand in lines just to catch a glimpse and would pull at his clothes and he often had to have police protection.
Now lets take a look at the star's personal life. He was dating the young starlet Ms Anju Mahendru at the time. Their relationship presumably withstood the craziness of his popularity and success. He was giving hit after hit and went on to give a record of 15 consecutive hits from 1969 to 1971.
1972 showed a decline in his success chart. As his films failed to do well at box office his personal life also took a toll. His relationship of 7 years with Anju Mahendru came to a bitter end. It is said that he went on to sabotage her career and married the then 16 year old Dimple Kapadia immedietly after the break up. His baraat was deliberately taken outside Anju Mahendru's house. They didn't speak to each other for 18 years.
In 1973 BBC recorded a documentary 'The Bombay superstar'. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWmucHoZN3U). We see Rajesh Khanna coming 2 hours 'fashionably' late to one of his sets, his wedding ceremony and him boycotting an award function as he was not the winner. Even the interviewers had to go to his house 5 times before he finally kept his appointment.
As years went by he saw many ups and downs in his career. In the eighties he starred in many critically acclaimed films. We see him with that special freshness of youth gone, though the larger than life 'Rajesh Khanna' charisma was still at large. Around this time his marriage to Dimple Kapadia also dissolved.
He had a successful career in the television post eighties. He also served as an M.P from 19991 - 1996.
I remember reading in a news paper many years ago that his son-in-law Akshay Kumar helped him out when his prestigious villa Aashirwaad was under the threat of being auctioned out. I wonder what made his financial situation this bad.
During his last years both his estranged wife and his first love came back to his life. Anju Mahendru reportedly held Rajesh Khanna's hand as he took his last breath .Both women were crying inconsolably at his funeral.
So what does all this teach us about life. If even stars are mere puppets at the hands of time where do us, the mere mortals stand? Then why do we still take grudges to grave?
