Many facets of the God of Bollywood Rajesh Khanna

Rajesh Khanna was a great actor and an affable human being. As an actor and a politician, he experienced the topsy tervy situations but dealt with both facets of his life most comfortably and with satisfaction. His ardent fans and the cinema goers all over the country always saw in him a hero with an outstanding style full of guts, glamour, unique freshness and impressive dialogue delivery. He was the most impressive hero of both the generations, the generation of the sixties and seventies of his superstardom days and the present one who’ve been watching his movies after 70ies, 80ies till date.
People were highly impressed by his unique style of acting as a hero. His dialogue delivery was outstanding, incomparable and highly impressive. The way he dressed, differently with latest fashion outfits impressed the young boys and girls to the hilt who always imitated him. Rajesh’s handsomeness and glamour was also the most beautiful part of his personality that added extra advantage to his stature/ personality.
There had been different talks, notions and whispering campaigns about Kaka that he was too proud, obstinate, influenced by richness, materialistic and arrogant at times. But one should not forget that in a human being there is always a negative part of one’s personality. And Kaka being a superstar was also no exception. But the fact of the matter is apart from Kaka’s golden period as a most successful actor during the seventies and eighties and despite having the stature of God of Indian Cinema Rajesh Khanna was a great human being as well.
If we see the other side of his personality he a person with affable nature, having compassion for the hapless, needy and his near and dear ones. Everybody knows that Kaka saw the peak of his popularity at a time when Hindi cinema entered the multicolor phase and as a superstar, his blockbuster movies one after the another had made him undoubtedly an unparalleled hero material with superstardom who was in over demand by the reputed directors and producers of the Indian Film Industry. There used to be a long queue of producers outside his house every morning and Kaka didn’t have time as after the long drinking sessions in the night till 4.00 am he used to get up late in the afternoon. Therefore the crowd of his fans, producers and appointment seekers surged day by day.
Kaka’s PRO’s or secretaries, therefore, were in more demand whose palm was greased by them to put them in the priority lists of Kaka’s interviewees, in order to get him signed as Hero in their forthcoming movies. They used to be eager to have just five minutes worth of meeting with him so that they could sign him but it wasn’t possible and only the most sought-after producer, directors could after great efforts get time to have his glimpse or say a short duration meetings. Such was kaka’s heightened popular chart those days.
In one of the incidents of Madras during those days when Kaka was on a shooting spree for his one of the film ’s, he was sitting in a fabulous lush green lawn of a hotel or location with assistants holding an umbrella over him. Kaka was feeling too hot due to Madras’s heat. In the meanwhile, the steward brought a bottle of Coca Cola in a tray to be served to him. In a fit of anger, he just picked the bottle and threw it away, not because he was angry with anyone but because it was not properly served in a glass with ice cubes. Such was his bent of mind during those days. But if we see the other part of his personality, Kaka was also very generous and simple in his dealings and had special love for cooking and eating delicious food.
During the shoot in Madras I was told that on several occasions after the shooting used to finish, kaka never changed his attire or the clothes he was wearing. He simply used to come in the same attire, dressed in a Bawarchi dress etc and enter the hotel (of course five stars) and sometimes entered the kitchen to ask the cook about the delicacies they were preparing for the day or would order for them through the chefs. ( the delicacies of his choice). Sometimes he would even suggest them some special dishes. Similarly, Kaka was very fond of stylish dresses of different fashion rather the latest one. Kaka told me ones that days before the shooting he himself called or used to meet the fashion designers of his time and suggest time different designs of Kurta, trousers, shirts or jackets that he wore while performing different roles in films.
One will be surprised to know that kaka always designed his own outfits of latest fashion that were later imitated by his billions of fans around the country. His Band Gala Kurta, the muffler he wore and Kurta Pants were is tremendous demand during those days and had rather become a fashion. Similarly, his constantly changing hairstyles of different shades and moods were also Kaka’s own innovation and the hairdressers were advised by him to manage them that way. Kaka was a man of precision, discipline, and perfection as far as his working in films and personal life goes. He was very hygienic, neat and clean and had a special charm for maintaining his glamour, hairstyle, the dresses he wore and the company of the people he kept. He was too fond of a battery of admirers. He had special liking rather obsession for beautiful women/girls and after the shooting he was always surrounded with them.
Kaka was undoubtedly a great actor who acted in more than 200 to 225 films with I think 15 or more having been super duper hits in a row all over the country making him the superstar overnight. He was fond of standardized living with all the latest electronic gadgets of high quality and expensive furniture with latest designs fitted in his bungalow Ashirvaad to lead a very lavish and comfortable life like a Maharaja during his peak days.
It is learnt that even his bathrooms were so lavish and modernised with glamour that they contained coloured televisions and all the latest things which a drawing room would not have, during his superstardom days. Rajesh Khanna was at times very open-hearted and everybody know that he had gifted a Bungalow and a car to his one time most trusted girlfriend with whom he was likely to be tied in a marital wedlock but couldn’t materialize. Similarly, there have been umpteen instances of his helping his staff members financially, with houses and also providing them cars or motorbikes. Kaka undoubtedly had liking for money and comforts but that does not mean that he would sell himself and his ego . He was too egoistic, obstinate and wanted to dictate things on his own terms. But his ego was a healthy one.
I remember, when he was the member of parliament from New Delhi there used to be hundreds of offers for him by the industrialist of the country for their family get-togethers obviously meaning that had he attended them kaka would have had not only good relations with the top business houses of the country but would also had gained financially but he never entertained their requests and would rather prefer to have the night sittings with his friends of choice and of his likings. I sat with Kakaji number of times in his drinking sessions to bring home the point that he loved his limited likeminded friends than to go out to attend lavish parties in the houses of big industrialists. While the MP he served the electorates of his constituency by writing letters to various authorities for resolution of their problems. He interacted with them. Held protest demonstrations against the illegal and unfair demolitions of the settlements of the poor by squatting in the middle of the road and also attended the ordinary marriage, birthday and other ceremonial functions of his supporters, staff members and common people in his constituency. He even visited slum clusters and sat with the poor, sometimes even participated in the langars ( the mass community lunches with common people) and also endeavoured to send supplies to the victims of Uttrakhand’s Uttarkashi earthquake. He also visited hospitals to see the victims of Jhuggi fires and illicit liquors and met the then police commissioner or senior police officials to arrest the culprits’ involved in such illegal activities. He sought monetary compensation for them, attended the protest demonstrations of government employees fighting for their just rights and helped trade unionists by making them meet the appropriate high authorities under his leadership.
Few people will know that when he was MP he fought for the rights of the government employees of New Delhi and met the then PM Manmohan Singh ultimately proving successful to make him agree to raise the income tax exemption limit of the government employees all over the country from 40 thousand to 60 thousand annually. This was indeed a great attempt of his in favour of the lower medium and the upper middle class of the society. What I mean to say by citing such examples is Rajesh Khanna was not only a fantastic actor but also a great human being who served the masses while being MP and also helped his close associates at the time of need.In the words of one of the die hard fans’ Swati Chatterjee for whom Kaka is not less than a God:
💐💖Every role he played, every dialogue he delivered, every song he performed will always be remembered and celebrated.
Rajesh Khanna…The Enigma…The Phenomenon…The Maverick who inspired an entire generation & adored by generations after generations will live on forever💖💐
SUNIL NEGI
FORMER MEDIA ADVISOR TO RAJESH KHANNA