Aradhana: How Rajesh Khanna zoomed to superstardom!

In the rich history of Hindi cinema there are only a few films whose impact went beyond the film’s commercial success. Films such as Mother India (1957), Mughal-E-Azam (1960) and Sholay (1975) are considered iconic not only for their storylines and performances, but what they said about Indian society and the influence they had on the masses as a whole.

Shakti Samanta’s Aradhana (1969) could be put in this category of films. Although Rajesh Khanna had done a few films like Aakhri Khat (1966) and Raaz (1967) before, it was Aradhana that gave him superstar status. The film’s music was quite the rage in its time and continues to enjoy great appeal even in present times. Songs such as ‘Mere sapnonki rani’ or ‘Roop tera mastaana’ all played a very important role in the film’s success and enhancing Khanna’s appeal. As Javed Akhtar notes in the upcoming episode of The Golden Years: 1950-1975 where he talks about the wonderful Hindi film songs of 1969, “There is something known as successful music. Then there is hit music. Then there is superhit music and finally there is Aradhana’s music which is even higher than superhit music… This film was a phenomenon in itself. This is the film which gave Rajesh Khanna his place in the sun actually.”

Aradhana started Khanna’s golden run. In the same year as Aradhana, Khanna had the Raj Khosla-directed Do Raaste, which was yet another big hit. Do Raaste’s songs too, like Aradhana’s songs, were written by Anand Bakshi. With lyrics for songs such as ‘Yeh reshmi zulfein, yeh sharbati aankhein’ and ‘Chhup gaye saarey nazaarey’, Bakshi played an important role in developing Khanna’s fan following as he penned one hit after another for the actor. The other memorable song from the film, which was sung by Lata Mageshkar and was picturized on the actor Mumtaz was ‘Bindiya chamkegi’. Mumtaz would form a hit pairing with Khanna in later years as the duo starred in a bunch of successful films like Sachaa Jhutha (1970), Dushman (1971), Aap Ki Kasam (1973) and Roti (1974).  

Another film that released in 1969, which had Khanna in a pivotal role but which really belonged to Waheeda Rehman in terms of the moving performance rendered by the actor was the Asit Sen-helmed Khamoshi (1969). The film’s soundtrack was composed by Hemant Kumar, in what surely is one of the composer’s most polished efforts in his entire body of work. Gulzar wrote the lyrics for the film, which had some really beautiful songs such as ‘Tum pukaar lo’ and ‘Humney dekhi hai unn aankhon ki mehakti khushboo’.

Tied to Khanna’s ascent to stardom were Kishore Kumar’s changing fortunes. Although Kishore had been around in the film industry for about two decades prior to Aradhana’s release, Mohammed Rafi was the undisputed numerouno playback singer right through the 1950s and 1960s. This can be seen in the songs of Pyar Ka Mausam (1969), where Kishore Kumar sings ‘Tum bin jaaoon kahaan’ for Bharat Bhushan’s character (the hero’s father), whereas Rafi sings the same song for Shashi Kapoor’s character (the hero) on two separate occasions in the film.

But with Khanna’s success, Kishore would go on to become the dominant male playback singer for the next two decades right upto his death in October 1987. And the changing of the guard from Rafi to Kishore was evident when the latter sang ‘Woh shaam kuchh ajeeb thee’ for Khanna in Khamoshi. Similarly, although Rafi sang two beautiful numbers for Khanna in Aradhana – ‘Gunn gunna rahey hain bhanwarey’ and ‘Baagon mein bahaar hai’ – it was Kishore who would go on to be identified as Khanna’s voice in the future. Speaking on his song ‘Kora kaagaz thaa yeh mann mera’ in Aradhana, for which Kishore sang the initial alaap, ‘Hey, hey’, Javed Akhtar opines, “The remarkable thing about that alaap is Kishore Kumar’s voice. Even after so many years if you try to imitate this alaap even slightly, anyone will identify that this is from ‘Kora kaagaz’. The richness in that voice. It is from here that the Kishore Kumar era started. And once he took over the throne, the mantle, he ruled for many years thereafter.”

To know more about the many wonderful Hindi film songs from 1969, watch the next episode of The Golden Years: 1950-1975 with Javed Akhtar this Sunday at 8 pm.