#theFridayFeature — Rajesh Khanna

Amey Pandit
Meraki
Published in
5 min readFeb 16, 2018

“Who doesn’t like being a superstar?”
- Rajesh Khanna

He Came. He Conquered. He Faded.

Until his death, the gates of Aashirwad saw its owner stand by the roadside hoping for someone to acknowledge and re-instill the unbelievable heights of fame he had once enjoyed. Tears reached my cheeks as I turned the pages of the biography tributed to the first superstar the country had ever seen. The opening batsman is always prone to mistakes — due to the unknown pitch and numerous other factors — and often allowed to make errors, but sadly, the case differs here.
We’re always taught that mistakes are a part of life, but unlike all, some pay a lot more. Someone wise had once said that if you keep sane in times of success, you’re God. Rumours have it that women during those times were so obsessed that they would walk towards his parked car and with their thumb, apply the dust over their forehead as sindoor. Producers were fed-up with his starry tantrums, reporters would write about his arrogance, he was known to not value relations; and after many hours of waiting and wasted money, Rajesh Khanna would arrive on the sets carrying an attitude that without him any and every movie would be shelved…

With fifteen back-to-back blockbusters to his credit, Rajesh Khanna’s success did indeed promise grandeur, but also expected longevity. Glossing through his journey, one is reminded of how uncertain life can be — sometimes surprising, at times shocking. Kaka’s life has been one similar to a soda bottle. He enjoyed the fizz we to levels one can only dream of which subsided too soon and stooped too low.

For common people like you and me, our lives become a living hell even if a single loved one doesn’t behave in the the same way, if the person doesn’t shower the everyday love we are accustomed to. Imagine millions of people denying recognition all of a sudden… How must that have felt like?

“The success was a coincidence, wasn’t planned. I think my audiences missed me in this rough patch. Yes, they missed me. Probably they weren’t good films, my last ones but I had no choice. I had do varied roles, do different films because after the superstar thing, you see, when one falls a little, before one falls one feels how deep the fall would be, one is scared.”
- Rajesh Khanna

“Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana, Yahaan Kal Kya Ho Kisne Jaana?” — Andaz, 1971

Uncertainty is one of the few lessons learnt. Kaka in many ways symbolizes what we as humans should paramountly learn — resilience. Reaching the heights is one thing, failing to sustain fame another; what makes Rajesh Khanna special is the fact that despite going through a trauma so big, through every passing second and every passing minute of his life, he did not give up. Anyone else in his place might have committed suicide but Kaka chose to live life the harder way. He lived on believing that one fine day, luck would stand in his favour again.

The tragedy lies in the fact that fame returned only when he left.

“I do most of the things intuitionally… Impulsive…. Just wait… And things happen the way I want them to.”
- Rajesh Khanna

What one can also learn from Kaka is honesty. He may have been a complex human, but he was honest, frank and blunt. A misconception people have about people who are tough to analyze is that they think people such are fake as it is impossible to slot them in segments. How can you slot a character like Krishna? He had varied shades of grey — he could be good, bad, ugly — the situation would smoke the desired quality out.

For me, Rajesh Khanna was similar. He wasn’t governed by politeness, truth governed him. All the honesty showed on screen. Honesty was Rajesh Khanna’s charm.

“To stay at the top, you got to be cruel sometimes. One has to fight, and fight well and win the bet. That calls for a lot of strength.”
- Rajesh Khanna

In an interview recorded just before the release of his 1973 film Daag, Kaka is seen constantly stressing on the fact that one day the darkness will fade and the light will shine bright again. A foray of box office blunders had long followed pre-Daag. This Yash Chopra directorial was a hope Kaka and his followers had tightly clung to.

“I’ll be back with my next film; you should read the papers tomorrow.”
- Rajesh Khanna

A few weeks later, Daag released with a clear message — the Bombay Superstar wasn’t so super anymore. Even with a face to die for, under roofs that constantly blessed (Aashirwaad), Rajesh Khanna’s fate hung like a pendulum that could wither in either way.

Kaka’s life had become a Bollywood drama that he was a meer spectator of. Speculation was the farthest he could do. The script was written, his fate was sealed. All that was in his hands was being there.

“I love shooting in front of a crowd. You get to meet many people, see different places. What do you think of the crowd that surrounds me?” — Rajesh Khanna

Thank You Kaka for being an immense inspiration to me and millions of others. May your soul rest in peace!

“Aaj main hoon jahaan, kal koi aur tha,
Ye bhi ek daur hai, wo bhi ek daur tha!”
- Rajesh Khanna

Well, that’s all for today.

Keep reading, keep sharing and never stop believing!

“Who doesn’t? I’m ravished to be a star, called a ‘star’. And I think a star does twinkle.”
- Rajesh Khanna

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Amey Pandit
Meraki
Editor for

"It's only words, and words are all I have to take your heart away." || Copywriter || Eklavya to @KapilMuzumdar ||