There were great actors like Amitabh Bachchan, and Dilip Kumar in Hindi cinema, but there was one superstar who stood out among them. He became a superstar by giving 15 consecutive hit films in the first three years of his career. He had absolute rule over Bollywood for almost 20 years, although after the entry of Amitabh Bachchan, his stardom started decreasing.
The superstar's stardom was such that there used to be a line of filmmakers in front of his house, but the journey to reach here was very difficult. He had seen a lot in life. He became Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna from Jatin Khanna in difficult circumstances.
Rajesh Khanna was born Jatin Khanna on December 29, 1942, and was brought up by Lilavati Chunnilal Khanna. Jatin's parents came from Pakistan after the partition of India and settled in Amritsar but due to a shortage of money, they had to give their son away. The Khanna couple, who were relatives of Jatin's real parents, adopted Rajesh Khanna and educated him.
Rajesh Khanna had a passion for acting from the beginning. According to media reports, he started doing theater at the age of 10. Jitendra was his close friend during his school days. Both of them continued doing theater in college also. He did amazing acting in the play 'Andha Yug', after which the chief guest of the show advised him to work in films. Rajesh made acting a career against his father's wishes.
Jatin was given the name Rajesh Khanna by his uncle, who later adopted this name in films. He participated in the 'All India Talent Hunt', of which he also became the winner. After this, his career in films started.
Rajesh Khanna worked for the first time in 1966 at the age of 23 in the film 'Aakhri Khat'. After this, he did three consecutive successful films - 'Raaz', 'Baharon ke Sapne', 'Aakhri Khat'. He tasted real success in 1969 with 'Aradhana'. After 'Aradhana', Rajesh Khanna won the title of the first superstar of Hindi films. He did not look back and gave 15 consecutive solo superhit films.
In June 2012, it was reported that Rajesh Khanna was unwell for the last few days. On June 23, 2012, he was taken to Lilavati Hospital for treatment of complex health-related diseases. On July 14, 2012, he was re-admitted to the Mumbai hospital. Finally, on July 18, 2012, the news broke that superstar Rajesh Khanna was no more.
To this day, Rajesh Khanna is regarded as one of the greatest actors in Indian cinema. Rajesh Khanna married Dimple Kapadia in March 1973. Dimple's film 'Bobby' was released after 8 months of marriage. He had two daughters from Dimple - Akshay Kumar's wife Twinkle Khanna and Rinke Khanna.
