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Rajesh Khanna

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Rajesh Khanna
In Mehboob Ki Mehndi (1971)
Born
Jatin Khanna
Years active1966 - 2002
SpouseDimple Kapadia (1973-1984)

Rajesh Khanna (Punjabi: ਰਾਜੇਸ਼ ਖੰਨਾ) (born Jatin Khanna on December 29, 1942 in Amritsar) is a legendary Indian Bollywood actor. He has also served a five year tenure as MP in the Indian parliament (1991-1996).


Early Life

Rajesh Khanna came from an affluent family. Khanna's father had misgivings about Rajesh's taking on a professional acting career. His initial foray into cinema with renowned film maker Chetan Anand was not a resounding success. Nonetheless, Rajesh persisted and exceeded all expectations. His previous theatrical backround assisted him with the characters of the cinema which he portrayed effortlessly and with naturalness. He is Hindi cinema's first officially acknowledged Superstar.[1]


In March of 1973 Rajesh Khanna married Dimple Kapadia, a Bollywood actress who had just made her film debut in Raj Kapoor's coveted blockbuster Bobby. At the time of Kapadia's film debut, she was sixteen years old; Khanna was thirty-one. They became the parents of Twinkle Khanna and Rinke Khanna, who would also become Bollywood actresses.

His movie Aaradhana is one of the biggest hits he had. The songs from that film are still in the hearts of this generation.

Later Life

Khanna and Dimple Kapadia separated in the early 1980s. Their elder daughter Twinkle is married to current star Akshay Kumar and younger daughter Rinke is married to an entrepreneur.

Khanna was a Member of Parliament for the New Delhi constituency (1991-96).

Bollywood career

Early Success

Rajesh Khanna joined the film industry in 1966 after winning an All India Talent Contest jointly organized by United Producers and Filmfare(selected by Panel of judges: Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt, Chetan Anand, G.P. Sippy, Sri Sakti Samanta, Sri B. R. Chopra). His film debut was in Aakhri Khat which went unnoticed. He appeared in a few more films over the next two years which did not gain him any recognition. He shot to fame with the 1969 film Aradhana which was hugely successful at the box office. From then on he was an extremely popular actor in the early 1970s, appearing in many romantic films and melodramas, where he was often paired with Mumtaz or Sharmila Tagore. Some of his most successful films in this period included Anand (1970), Amar Prem (1971), Andaaz (1971), Bawarchi (1972) Daag (1973) and Namak Haraam (1973). During his heyday he would be mobbed during public appearances. Fans kissed his car, which would be covered with lipstick marks, and lined the road, cheering and chanting his name. Female fans sent him letters written in their own blood [1] From 1969 to 1973 he had 15 consecutive hit films, a journalist Devyani Chaubal dubbed him "phenomenon" when he was at his peak. Several of the popular songs sung by Kishore Kumar in the 1970s were picturized on Khanna and helped his films become successful.

Later Career

However the success perhaps caused him to be complacent, often turning up very late for shoots and throwing tantrums as well as having a whole entourage of sycophants accompany him for his shoots [[2]]. This behaviour coupled with the changing trend from romantic movies to action oriented films in the late 1970s and 1980s made Rajesh Khanna's films box office rating downward, He starred in movies like some like Amar Deep, Red Rose, Mehabooba, Anurodh, Palko ki Chaon Mein, were not succesful and some like Avtar, Thodisi Bewafai ,Souten did click. He played central characters or guest roles in some movies such as Disco Dancer (1982), and Vijay (1988) . He also performed in mult-star films with central characters like Kudrat, Rajpoot, Dharm Aur Kanoon and performed fine polished performance. But beyond the first half of the 1980's his roles diminished. His most recent few film appearances were in Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999) Kyaa Dil Ne Kahaa (2002)and Jana (2006). After a long gap presently he is engaged with a number of new movies; some of which are ready for release shortly.

Political career

During 1991-1996, Rajesh Khanna was a Member of Parliament for the Congress Party, from the New Delhi constituency.He has since been a political activist for the Congress Party

Television career

In 2001-2002, Rajesh Khanna played major roles in two television serials: Aapne Parai (B4U & DD Metro) and Ittefaqu (Zee TV).

He performed in a video album based on Tagore's immortal songs (Rabindra Sangeet) free of cost. Currently he is busy in processing his own music channel viz. R.K. Music Channel.

He has recently endorsed a talent hunt programme namely "Star se Superstar tak" as the First Superstar of Indian Cinema, under the banner of Red Carpet Entertainment and donated a Gold Trophy of Rs.1 Crore with Ms. Priyanka Chopra.

Filmfare awards

Rajesh Khanna has been nominated for fourteen Filmfare Best Actor awards .

  • 2005 - Winner Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
  • 1990 - Winner Special Award for twenty-five years in the film industry
  • 1973 - Winner Special Award for Guest appearance for Anurag

Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards

Other awards

  • In 2001, Khanna was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Sansui Film Awards [[7]
  • In April of 2003, he had been chosen for the Maharastra state government’s Raj Kapoor Award. He had been chosen for his contribution to the film industry.[8]
  • In January of 2004, he was honoured with the Star Screen Lifetime Achievement Award [9]
  • In March of 2004, he has bagged the Bollywood Awards 2004's Lifetime Achievement Award and also received the Lifetime of Glamour award at the Kingfisher Bollywood Fashion Awards at USA. [10]
  • He was awarded the "Pride of Film Industry" by the Stardust Awards on February 21, 2005.[11]
  • He is the recipient of the “Outstanding Contribution to the Motion Picture Industry of India” Awards at the eighth annual Bollywood Movie Awards in Trinidad (Centre of Excellence) on June 10, 2006. [12]
  • On February 4, 2006, he was awarded with "Yugantar Gaurav Puraskar". [13]
  • He is a recipient of the "Glory of India Award" by IIAF, London. [14]

These are in addition to a number of Life Time Achievement Awards of international and national repute.

Filmography

References

  1. ^ http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2002/sep/13dinesh.htm
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