RAJESH KHANNA – a layman’s interpretation of the phenomenon

I was born in the year 1966 and Rajesh Khanna started his career a short while later. He became a phenomenon in front of my eyes as I grew up observing the hysteria around me. In those days we used to stay at Margaon Goa a nondescript town not too far from the sea shore with two cinema theatres. On Saturday’s my school used to function for half-day, invariably my mother used to hurriedly push in some lunch into mine and my sisters stomach and then along with her friend Neela Patkar who also was our tutor, we all walked about a kilometer and half to Vasant cinema to reach in time just before the ticket counters opened for the matinee show. Barring the rainy season and the times when we went on holidays to my Grandfathers place, the Saturday matinee movie was a once a month feature in our lives. I remember having seen Dilip Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, Dharmendra, Dev Anand, Rajesh Khanna, Hema Malini, Mumtaz, and Asha Parekh on the screen, in between those moments when I dozed off inside the cinema theatre.

At that small age I understood very few things about the movies. There were some common elements like songs and dances in every movie, a scheming villain and a big fight with the hero just before the end, there were decked up actors and actresses and old crying parents in every movie. But one man was special.  There were other good looking actors and even Dharmendra had a disarming smile, yet Rajesh Khanna was special. Great songs could be attributed to Shammi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar or Dev Anand but Rajesh Khanna was special. He was not a swashbuckling macho hero, nor did he perform great stunts. He did not possess the acting abilities of Dilip Kumar and when it came to box-office success, Rajendra Kumar was often called Jubilee Kumar, yet Rajesh became the Superstar.

In those days when there were no televisions or internet, people walked over to their neighbour’s home in the evenings for a cup of tea or dinner. Inadvertently Rajesh Khanna was the topic of conversation amongst men and of gossips amongst the ladies over drinks and food. I remember that my father did not like him one bit and my mother swooned at his mention. Most adored him and his movies had a great repeat value. A common boast in those discussions was how many times a person had seen his movie. Folks deliberated for hours, the story line, the script, the acting performance, the director, playback singers, the music director, the melodies, the personal life of the actors, and finally as was customary the main cause for success of the movie was conferred on the shoulders of Rajesh Khanna.


When I look back and try to decipher the madness, the only factor I can see that worked for Rajesh Khanna was his genuineness. He was a man of independent thought and lived life at his own terms. He remained in his personal life a very proud and strong willed yet a vulnerable man and it was this same vulnerability lurking in the shadow of strength that he projected in his earlier roles which made him almost fragile and endearing. This is a paradox since that acting is appreciated where the actor overcomes his personal nature and performs as the character of the role requires. But Rajesh Khanna as he was in those initial days was also exceedingly charming, stylish, a dream-boat. Forget the tilting of the head mannerisms and forget the million dollar smile, but when Rajesh Khanna cried or when he emoted a pensive moment or when wooed the heroine, or when he lightened the mood of his friend and family members on screen, his own personal vulnerability was on display. He was being himself. This invisible vibration is what touched and connected to the hearts of the viewers as they could see the genuineness of the man and not someone trying to act some irrelevant role. People loved his honesty and continued loving him as long as he portrayed himself with honesty in the role. With age Rajesh Khanna the person also changed. The fall of the Superstar started when he was offered such roles where he had to act and had to perform characters he could not connect with until much later in his career in the movie Avataar which once again saw Rajesh Khanna at his brilliant best.