Rajesh Khanna is one of the legendary actors that Indian Cinema ever witnessed. Born as Jatin Khanna on 29 December 1942, Rajesh Khanna was not just an actor, but marked his name in the fields of production and politics too. Named as the first super star of Indian Cinema, Rajesh Khanna attended St. Sibastian Goan High School in Girgaum. His interest for art developed while he was at school. Along with his school mate Ravi Kapoor (actor Jitendra), Jatin Khanna took part in several stage shows at school and received critical acclaim. In fact, he even won numerous awards for his stage plays. When Jatin Khanna decided to enter films, his uncle changed his first name from Jatin to Rajesh Khanna.

Entry into cinema:

Rajesh Khanna appeared on the silver screen for the first time in 1966 in the film Aakhri Khat, which was directed by Chetan Anand. The movie received good response and Rajesh Khanna's acting was hailed by almost all film makers, which helped him in getting offers. The next film in which he played the lead role was Raaz. This movie was also a big hit and Rajesh Khanna established himself as a good actor. With his own style and killer looks, Rajesh Khanna was said to have stolen the hearts of n number of young women. On the other hand, Rajesh Khanna's style was copied by many youths to impress women. In fact, south actress Priya Mani herself tweeted that her father was a big fan of Rajesh Khanna and imitated his dressing.

Rajesh Khanna's Akhri Khat was nominated for 40th Oscar Awards in 1967 in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. Khanna then gave an interview to Hindu newspaper. He said:

"Though Aakhri Khat is my first film, I received my first break as a leading actor in Ravindra Dave's, Raaz in 1967. My heroine was Babita, already a popular actress then. Though I had lots of confidence, I was shy in facing the camera initially. In my first three shots, I had to perform with stress on my body language and dialogue delivery. Though I was right with my dialogues, my movements were not up to the mark. Ravindra Dave explained me my scenes and movements very clearly correcting my way of walking".

Rajesh Khanna later signed a contract with United Producers, who gave him some good films such as Ittefaq, Aaradhana, Baharon Ke Sapne, Aurat and Doli. It was Rajesh Khanna's acting, which made him popular. In fact, after Aaradhana movie, film critics referred to Rajesh Khanna as superstar. Kishore Kumar for the first time gave play back to Rajesh Khanna and later many movies came in the combination of Kishore Kumar and Rajesh Khanna, which were musical hits.

Huge women following:

Rajesh Khanna had a huge female fan base even in South India. Actress Mumtaz who shared great on screen chemistry with Rajesh Khanna in eight films has said that whenever Rajesh entered a hotel in Madras, hundreds of girls used to beeline at the hotel to see the superstar. The instances of lipstick marks on Rajesh Khanna's car proved how crazy women were about Rajesh Khanna. There were even reports that scores of women even wrote love letters to him with their blood.

Once a director wanted Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila to sit in the boat and sail under Howrah Bridge for the film Amar Prem. The thoughts of the director never took real form as the police didn't give permission for Rajesh Khanna to move under Howrah bridge as the officials felt that bridge might collapse as there was possibility of crores of people thronging the bridge for having a glimpse of the superstar. That was the craze Rajesh Khanna had.

Personal life:

Rajesh Khanna married Dimple Kapadia in March 1973. Prior to that he was in love with actress Anju Mahendru for about seven years. Due to reasons unknown, the couple broke up and didn't talk to each other for nearly 15 years. Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia got two daughters-Twinkle Khanna and Rinke Khanna-from the marriage and later in 1984 Rajesh Khanna's busy schedule and Dimple Kapadia's interest to return to films eventually made the couple lived separately although they never applied for divorce.

Later Dimple Kapadia and Rajesh Khanna were seen together at parties and Dimple even campaigned for Rajesh Khanna's candidature in politics. Rajesh Khanna's elder daughter Twinkle Khanna married Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar while his younger daughter Rinke Khanna married an entrepreneur in London.

Entry into politics:

Rajesh Khanna became the member of the parliament from New Delhi constituency in 1991. While serving as an MP, he also acted in a film Khudia, which was released in 1994. He acted only in a few films, which were not more than 10 in number after entering into politics. He appeared in four television serials between 2000 and 2009.

Rajesh Khanna's health deteriorates:

Rajesh Khanna came into news in 2012 June when he got admitted to Lilavati Hospital (June 23) over prolonged illness. On 8 July, Rajesh Khanna was discharged and was said to be fine. He even cheered up the large number of fans who stood outside his residence to wish him. Later on 14 July, he was again admitted to Lilavati hospital and was discharged on 17 July. And on 18 July, Rajesh Khanna left scores of his fans in tears. He passed away at his bungalow in Mumbai.

Rajesh Khanna is not physically among the people but he will be alive as long as Indian Cinema lives. In fact, Indian cinema never saw an actor like that earlier and would never witness a person like him in future.

(AW Phani)