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Remembering Rajesh Khanna: The actor for whom the word ‘superstar’ was coined

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 Rajesh Khanna was a natural. His biographer Gautam Chintamani recalls the director-writer-actor Rumi Jaffery saying how he can “never forget how Rajesh Khanna prided himself on never using aids like glycerine to evoke tears while acting”.

Jaffery recalled in a conversation with Chintamani: “He would ask you, ‘How many tears do you need?’, and just turn around for a moment or two; and when he turned back, there would be tears in his eyes. You could wake him up in the middle of the night and he would just stand and deliver when it came to tears.”

Chintamani will be collaborating with director Farah Khan on the script, based on his book, ‘Dark Star: The Loneliness Of Being Rajesh Khanna’, for a biopic on India’s first superstar.

“Once, Jaffery and (cinematographer) Sameer Arya instructed Rajesh Khanna to randomly shed a few tears in a hotel’s lift lobby and Khanna readily dispelled a few before the lift emerged,” Chintamani writes in the book.

And, there was no end to his ire when aroused.

“There were times when rumours of his sudden death flooded the Internet and saw his fans paying rich tributes on social media sites. Once, an infuriated Khanna walked to the main gate of Aashirwad in his favourite silk lungi-kurta with a cigarette and drink in tow only to prove to a journalist that, contrary to rumours, he was still alive,” Chintamai writes.

It was this strength of character that prompted Rajesh Khanna to appear in his first TV commercial — perhaps to the horror of some, but to the immense delight of a legion of admirers — and boldly declaim: “Fans kya hote hain mujhse poochho. Pyaar ka woh toofan … mohabbat ki woh aandhi .. woh jazbaa … woh junoon. Hawaa badal sakti hai lekin fans hamesha mere rahenge. Babumoshai, mere fans mujhse koi nahin chheen sakta (I will tell you what fans are. That storm of love … that passion … that madness. The direction of the wind may change, but my fans will always stay with me. Babumoshai, no one can steal my fans from me).”

This was only to be expected from an actor showered with love by a generation of fans who had grown up on three immensely poignant songs from his movie ‘Anand’: “Zindagi Kaise Hai Paheli”, “Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaaye” and “Maine Tere Liye Hi Saat Rang Ke Sapne Chune”.

Sure, there were a procession of hit songs from his 17 consecutive hit films as the lead hero from 1969 to 1971, which included 15 solo-hero films and two non-solo-hero films. “Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana” and “Yeh Shaam Mastani” are just two, but listen carefully to the lyrics from ‘Anand’ and you will get a measure of what Rajesh Khanna’s guiding philosophy was all about.

Sharmila Tagore, his co-star in ‘Aradhana’, which began his journey to superstardom, sums this up the best in the foreword to Chintamani’s book: “If ever a life was meant to be a book, few could stake a stronger claim. Like a shooting star doomed to darkness after a glorious run, Rajesh Khanna spent the better half of his career in the shadow of his own stardom. Yet, 40 years after his last monstrous hit, Khanna continues to be the yardstick by which every single Bollywood star is measured.”

She recalls: “At a time when film stars were truly larger than life, Khanna was even more: the one for whom the term ‘superstar’ was coined. Born Jatin Khanna to middle-class parents, the actor was adopted by rich relatives who brought him up like a prince.

“By the time he won the Filmfare-United Producers Combine Talent Hunt, he was already famous for being the struggler who drove an imported sports car.

“With 17 blockbuster hits in succession and mass adulation rarely seen before or since, the world was at Khanna’s feet. Everything he touched turned to gold. The hysteria he generated — women writing him letters in blood, marrying his photograph and donning white when he married Dimple Kapadia, people bringing sick children for his ‘healing’ touch after ‘Haathi Mere Saathi’ — was unparalleled.

“Then, in a matter of months, it all changed. Khanna’s career hit a downward spiral, as spectacular as his meteoric rise just three years after ‘Aradhana’ (1969) and never really recovered.”

Adman-filmmaker R. Balki, who directed Rajesh Khanna in the TV commercial, roundly deprecates the criticism that the actor had been depicted in poor light in the 35-second spot, saying it only points to his strength of character.

“My response to it (the criticism) is simple,” he said in an interview after the commercial was aired. “If a man is great enough to laugh at himself, why should anyone have a problem? When he wasn’t doing anything on screen all these years, people were making all kinds of jokes about it. When a legend chooses to laugh at himself, then some people start getting uncomfortable. I don’t even think that they are Rajesh Khanna fans in the first place. … He’s the one who is cracking a joke at himself, he is sporting enough to say, ‘Yes, I am not what I used to be. But so what!'”

Legendary script-writer Salim Khan, who in tandem with Javed Akhtar, has penned some of Bollywood’s most memorable films, provides a balanced perspective in his foreword to an earlier biography, ‘Rajesh Khanna: The Untold Story of India’s First Superstar’, by journalist-author Yaseer Usman.

Salim Khan writes in the Foreword: “Today, my son Salman Khan is a big star. Crowds cluster daily in front of our house to catch a glimpse of him. People often come to me and say that they haven’t seen such a craze for any star before this.

“But I tell these people that just a small distance away from here, on Carter Road, I have witnessed many such sights in front of Aashirwad. And I have never seen that kind of mass adulation for any other star after Rajesh Khanna.”

Salim Khan concludes: “We often forget when we talk about film stars or public figures that they are also human beings who also make mistakes, face failure and are scared of losing their successful run professionally, like everyone else.”

One thing is for sure: It has been a decade since Rajesh Khanna departed from this world, but his legacy will continue to live for generations to come.

(Vishnu Makhijani can be reached at vishnu.makhijani@ians.in)

Bollywood

Saif Ali Khan stabbing case: Actor met rickshaw driver in hospital ahead of getting discharged

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Mumbai, Jan 22: A day after Saif Ali Khan was discharged, pictures of the auto-rickshaw driver Bhajan Singh Rana posing with the Bollywood star in the hospital before he left for home started to do the rounds on social media.

Rickshaw driver Bhajan Singh Rana was the one who took Saif to Lilavati hospital on January 16 after the Bollywood star was stabbed multiple times during a robbery attempt in his house in wee hours.

Before leaving the hospital for home, Saif personally called the rickshaw driver to meet him at the hospital.

In one image, the auto-rickshaw driver is sitting next to Saif on the hospital bed as they smile at the camera. Saif’s bruised hand is on Bhajan Singh Rana’s shoulder. In another photograph, the duo are standing and smiling at the lens.

The 54-year-old star, who is married to Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Khan, thanked the rickshaw driver and told him to feel free to ask for help whenever he needed.

Saif along with his veteran-actress mother Sharmila Tagore, expressed their gratitude towards Bhajan Singh Rana.

As per sources, Saif praised the rickshaw driver for his work and said: “Keep helping others like this. And as for the fare that day, don’t worry, it will be taken care of.”

He jokingly added: “If you ever need help in life, remember me.”

When Bhajan Singh Rana was asked how he reached the hospital, as all the media personnel were present, he told Media: “I entered the hospital wearing a mask.”

The auto rickshaw driver said that he had first got a call from Saif’s personal assistant.

He said that he “ just prayed” that the actor gets well.

“I took a few selfies with him. I took a few photos with him.”

The driver recalled the night, when Saif was stabbed and said that the actor asked him to drive slowly as it was a “little painful.”

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Feroz Abbas calls performing ‘Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya’ at Taj Mahal ‘a tribute’

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Mumbai, Jan 22: Feroz Abbas Khan is currently busy with ‘Mughal-e-Azam: The Musical’. As part of the musical, the iconic love song “Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya” from the movie “Mughal-e-Azam” was staged at the Taj Mahal on 14th Jan 2025 this year.

“Mughal-e-Azam: The Musical” will take place till 23rd February, 2025. It will mark the end of the Delhi run for this epic masterpiece. Before performing in Delhi, the musical is expected to be performed in Mumbai at NMACC till 26th January 2025.

Talking about the emotional experience, Feroz Abbas Khan revealed, “We wanted to celebrate the enduring legacy of love by performing ‘Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya’ in front of the Taj Mahal. Incidentally, Shakeel Badayuni who wrote this definitive love anthem also praised the Taj for being a monument to love in another famous song. In a way, our performance was a tribute to Shakeel saab, to Naushad ji who tuned both the songs, to the Taj and to love that transcends all barriers.”

He further added, “While distilling K Asif’s timeless epic into a stage production, we did not anticipate the momentous journey it would go on to undertake across the globe. The fact that we are now all set to stage our 300th performance in Delhi has an enormous personal significance for all of us.”

Meanwhile, producer Deepesh Salgia was quoted saying, “Shapoorji Pallonji has been associated with the magnificence of ‘Mughal-e-Azam’ for over 75 years in its cinematic as well as musical form. Be it the luxurious production canvas or the marketing campaign, we have always worked towards setting new benchmarks. In the same spirit, the performance at the Taj is our tribute to the concluding season of the musical in Delhi.”

The musical features more than 550 exquisite costumes, breathtaking sets, live singing, and stunning Kathak choreography.

Directed by Feroz Abbas Khan, ‘Mughal-E-Azam: The Musical’ has been produced by Deepesh Salgia, under the assistance of Shapoorji Pallonji.

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Saif Ali Khan case: Mumbai Police find clues from crime scene

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Mumbai, Jan 22: The Mumbai Police have recovered a piece of cloth from actor Safi Ali Khan’s apartment which belongs to accused Shariful Islam Shehzad Mohammad, the Bangladeshi national arrested in the attack case.

Sources said the Bandra police recovered cloth from Khan’s house, which the accused used to cover his face. The cloth fell from his face in Saif’s son Jahangir’s room during the scuffle.

The cloth can be seen in the CCTV footage when Shehzad is climbing up the stairs before committing the crime. The police have sent the cloth and hair samples for DNA testing to the forensic department.

Earlier, the officials said that Shehzad had entered the actor’s building, Satguru Sharan, in the Bandra area by scaling its compound wall and found the security guards sleeping.

Sources said that both the security guards in the building were sleeping when the attacker entered it by crossing over the boundary wall.

The sources further said that as Shehzad found both the security guards sleeping, he entered the building from the main entrance where no CCTV camera exists. The accused removed his shoes and kept them in his bag to avoid making any noise. He also switched off his phone.

The police on Tuesday recreated the crime scene with the accused at the building. Police took the accused wherever he went after fleeing from Saif Ali Khan’s house. Shehzad was taken to the garden near the Satguru Sharan building and then to the National College Bus Stop where he was said to have stopped and stayed for a while after committing the crime. During the probe, the police took Shehzad to the Bandra Railway Station from where he had fled. Police are trying to find out how he reached the station.

The police were trying to record the chain of events starting from Shehzad’s entry to the building to his fleeing before being arrested.

Saif Ali Khan was stabbed six times by Shehzad inside his apartment in the early hours of January 16. The actor underwent emergency surgery at the Lilavati Hospital and was discharged on Tuesday. Three days after the attack, the police arrested the accused from neighbouring Thane city.

A court in Mumbai on Sunday remanded the accused in five-day police custody.

Shehzad, a native of Jhalokathi district in Bangladesh was residing in Mumbai for over five months. He had been working odd jobs and was associated with a housekeeping agency, the police have said.

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