Why the charisma of Rajesh Khanna, the original superstar, endures
July 18 is the fifth death anniversary of Hindi cinema’s first and only superstar who, in a sense, can never be thought of as dead. It was his unique personality which led to the use of the epithet “superstar” for the first time in the country. No other word could have been adequate to describe his charm and mystique, his romantic persona and sensitive acting. He is the original and if one may say so, the only superstar of our film industry.
Rajesh Khanna, originally named Jatin Khanna, ruled like a monarch over the hearts of people for many years and continues to do so even five years after he passed away. His fame will remain immortal and his name will always be synonymous with fine acting and a rare charisma. Nobody has been able to match up to “Kaka” as he was fondly called by people close to him. Films like Anand, Safar, Amar Prem, Do Raaste, Kati Patang, Sachaa Jhoota, Haathi Mere Saathi and Aan Milo Sajna established him completely as the superstar after the amazing effect he created with Shakti Samanta’s Aradhana in which the magic actually began.
This magic is timeless and will be felt by each new generation that views his films. However, the euphoria he created among people in the seventies can never be experienced fully by people of later generations. The romance of those times and what it meant to be fans of the great Rajesh Khanna is something out of fairy tale. He was synonymous with Hindi cinema in those charmed years.
There has been no other star in the industry who saw such a meteoric rise within such a short span of time, delivering 17 blockbuster hits from 1969 to 1973. Before the screening of Aradhana in 1969, nobody knew or cared who he was. But once the film was seen, people wanted to know all about this versatile actor. He had become a “phenomenon”. He had gone much beyond the scope of the film through his brilliant and effortless portrayal of the father as well as the son.
There are many stories about Khanna’s arrogance, narcissism, outlandishness, his behaving in a difficult manner with people, his jealousies, insecurities and possessiveness about his super stardom. He was an icon and star who shone so bright that he was himself dazzled by his light. The magic could not have lasted too long. Time changed and he faced failure which he did not accept easily. He was no doubt a man of contradictions and complexities which came to the fore once the era of his complete sway began to ebb.
In his book The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna: Dark Star, Gautam Chintamani writes, “It is perhaps unimaginable to gauge the extent of Rajesh Khanna’s appeal today for the simple reason that every two-bit star who delivers a couple of hits is considered the next big thing. The madness of Khanna’s streak of success between 1969 and 1972 can be ascertained from the fact that he was the first Hindi actor whose films ran to full houses for months on end in non-Hindi speaking areas.”
Actress Sharmila Tagore, who paired with the superstar in many a successful film beginning with Aradhana, writes in the “Foreword” to the book that the “tidal wave of the Rajesh Khanna craze receded as suddenly as it had begun... one minute everyone was swooning over him, and another moment they had turned away. This too was a phenomenon”.
She concludes by saying that there has never been and never will be anything to remotely match “the appeal of this man at his peak”. This has been the consensus about Kaka.
There is that in his screen persona which is not easy to put in words. When one sees his films, one after the other, they weave their spell and make one understand why he succeeded in that unbelievable way in those years. In the film Andaz, the story of a widower (Shammi Kapoor) and a widow (Hema Malini), our superstar stole the show with his two-scene role and the unforgettable Kishore Kumar song “Zindagi ik Safar Hai Suhaana”.
Andaz came to be known for Khanna and this song. Such was his spell!
He came as a breath of fresh air after an era where actors like Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand had ruled the silver screen. They looked boyish no more. He was a dream come true , especially for women. Men wanted to dress like him (in Guru Kurtas) but it was the female following that contributed greatly to his unimaginable fame. It is known that women got married to his photographs and wrote letters to him in blood. Never before and never after had any star created such frenzy. Women of all ages loved him. In the '80s, Souten, Thodi si Bewafai, Avtaar, Agar Tum Na Hote and Kudrat gave him an opportunity to shine once again. All had not been lost.
Rajesh Khanna was an actor and a superstar. He had substance as well as charisma. The innocence and freshness we can see in his performances, that vulnerable, lost look — all created a persona that gave joy to hearts and evoked a feeling of romance that made many a heart skip a beat.
Five years after his death, he is as much alive as he was in those beautiful films. And will always be. Despite his idiosyncrasies. Despite the tantrums and despite the troubled days when he faced failure and painful loneliness. All these cannot diminish the eternal beauty and happiness he gave to the world with his talent and flawless performances.
This Anand is forever.