RAJESH KHANNA TURNED ROMANCE INTO FINE ART

    Writer Vrajendra Gaur [Kati Patang and Anuraag],
    with  Rajesh Khanna.

RAJESH KHANNA TURNED ROMANCE INTO FINE ART  WRITTEN BY: RAJESH V. GAUR and SUNEEL V. GAUR EMAIL: sunrise607@rediffmail.com  The star who turned romance, into high art was Bollywood’s first real superstar Rajesh Khanna. Born on 29th December, Rajesh Khanna, created a romance that was both adult and modern. Rajesh Khanna was made less by the characters he played than his mannerisms — the drawls, the pauses, the sudden sparkle in his eyes, the fresh and easy smile, and the playful tilt of the head. The actor alluded to the role in the film Anand in which he tries to spread cheer in spite of knowing that he would not live for long.                                                                                                                                                                  To understand what Rajesh Khanna was or how he altered the persona of the film hero, it is important to stress what he was not. He was not a loveable tramp , nor a tragedy king and rarely, if ever, played the hero with shades of grey as Dev Anand liked to do. He was the stuff of soft romance, his characters often earnest and virtuous, his performances enhanced by a face that was a fortune and a style of acting that used eyes, lips, hands, and vocal chords to great effect. Romance took on a new meaning: crinkling one’s eyes, the tilt of the head and a gesture of the hand. Women, who were driven to distraction by his carefree and non-threatening charm, swooned over him in droves. The hysteria around his stardom reached a feverish pitch with women marrying his photographs. It was with Aradhana, that a star was born. The mix of S.D. Burman’s mesmerising music and Kishore Kumar’s voice, brought Rajesh Khanna into his own. He went on to forge a successful partnership with heroines like Sharmila, Mumtaz and Hema .                                           Affectionately called Kaka, he charmed and yodelled his way through a series of films such as Do Raaste, Kati Patang, Anuraag, Roti, and Anand. His success was all the more remarkable as it came at a time when the industry was still singing praises of popular stars of the time like Dharamendra , Shashi Kapoor, Jeetendra, etc. But with a record 15 consecutive superhits, there was no questioning his quick and undisputed ascent to superstardom.                                      (from left to right)  Rajesh Khanna, Writer Vrajendra Gaur, Sharmila, [sitting] Shakti and Asit Sen.   Rajesh Khanna always owed a portion of his success to Kishore Kumar’s songs such as “Roop tera mastana” , “ Yeh jo Mohabbat hai”, and “Yeh shaam mastani” etc. Khanna’s decline came as rapidly as his rise. After five years of ruling the box office, his position was usurped by Amitabh Bachchan who had acted with him in Anand. Rajesh Khanna became careless. He became fat, took success for granted, chose scripts which did not suit his talent and listened more to his sycophants than his well wishers. Slowly, the gentle romantic hero was replaced by the angry, young man.                                                                             But Rajesh Khanna gave us hits even in the era of Amitabh with Avtar, Soutan, Amardeep and Thodi si Bewafai but success eluded him. His personal life, was chequered. And unlike Bachchan, he was unable to reinvent himself to remain relevant in Bollywood once he reached middle age. Plagued with ill health an infirm Rajesh Khanna bravely did an advertisement for a popular brand of fan and was greatly appreciated for it. Though Rajesh Khanna's fans will like to remember a younger Rajesh Khanna, as the man who was at the height of his powers, the charmer who successfully romanced the best actresses on screen, Rajesh Khanna found it difficult to accept that stardom, like life itself, is a transient thing. WRITTEN BY: RAJESH V. GAUR and SUNEEL V. GAUR