Even decades after the height of his fame, the mere mention of Rajesh Khanna does not fail to evoke varying emotions in people. He is as magnetic now as he was before his death, says CHRISTY VARGHESE
There were stars like Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar who had tasted major success before him, and then there was the ‘one-man industry’ after him, Amitabh Bachchan. But as people would attest to this fact, there was just one Rajesh Khanna and possibly not even the Bachchan mania or Shah Rukh Khan fever could have matched the fan frenzy that surrounded the suave Khanna in his prime, when he was mobbed during public appearances as female fans kissed his car, lathering it with lipstick stains. And let’s overlook the numerous women who sent him letters written in blood.
Who among us would not remember the jovial charm which Khanna exhibited in the cult classic song, Mere sapno ki raani kab aayegi tu. His particular style of delivering his lines and the sideways nod have been admired and emulated by many. But Khanna was much more than the sum total of his mannerisms. Though his fans might be flustered with the fact that his fall from the pedestal as ‘the first superstar in Bollywood’ somewhat reflected his meteoric rise in the industry, they should find solace in the fact that the Khanna phenomenon, however, continued long after he faded away.
We were at the IHC, at an evening quite appropriately titled ‘Remembering Rajesh Khanna’, organised by Harper Collins Publishers India and Chitrashala, dedicated to celebrate the spectacle called Rajesh Khanna and the grand success of his biography, ‘Dark Star: The loneliness of being Rajesh Khanna’ by Gautam Chintamani who successfully attempted chronicling the life and times of this larger than life actor. The success of his memoir is evident; his book sold in excess of 5000 copies in three months, which is considered to be highly popular by the standards of any paperback on Indian cinema.
The evening was designated to be an interactive discussion, and was chaired by an illustrious panel comprising of Chintamani, R Balki (director of Cheeni Kum andPaa) and Ira Bhaskar (Dean of School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU). The event also exhibited a collection of memorabilia comprising film posters, lobby cards featuring films Khanna starred in by Sumant Batra, a museum curator and philanthropist.
In the process of writing his book, Chintamani had come across various facets of Khanna’s career and he was quite vocal about it during his dialogue. And his acute observations did not fail to surprise us. “Rajesh Khanna was one of those actors who played by the rules but he ended up ruling the game. Though one cannot deny that he was a bit arrogant in the height of his fame, you should not ignore the fact that because his fame was magnified, his failures, tantrums, every aspect was magnified,” he articulated. Chintamani was also of the opinion that the way stars carry themselves today, the way they talk, Khanna was back at that time. “He was so superb and ahead of his times that when times changed, he ended up being a misfit,” Chintamani claimed.
Bhaskar, a vocal hard core Khanna fan, thought that Chintamani’s book was an empathetic understanding account of the late star’s life and times. “During my college heydays, Rajesh Khanna’s existence was the source of happiness for many of my buddies. His general demeanour and haircut was echoed by many men at that time, hoping to gain points with their female counterparts, do I need to say moreIJ” she narrated with twinkling eyes and a playful smile.
During the discussion, Chintamani’s decision to title his book, ‘Dark Star’ was questioned, but he maintained that beyond the obvious implication of the title, it was good wordplay. “Khanna was a star who burnt with such intensity that everything else around him was thrown into a lesser perspective. But like when a star burns out, and there is nothing but a blackhole left, in the end Khanna just had a controversial legacy to his name,” he reasoned.
Balki had the honour of directing Khanna’s last appearance in front of the camera, in a somewhat questionable ad for Havell’s fans just a couple of months before the star passed away. People were under the opinion that the ad, which features Khanna saying, “Mere fans mujhse koi nahi cheen sakta” and pictured multitudes of different varieties of fans, ridiculed Khanna. But Balki revealed that when he went with the script to Khanna, his response of, “What is a star if he cannot laugh at himselfIJ” took him by surprise and revealed the mindset of the veteran actor. “Indeed, the one person who had spent his moments, from the very beginning, trying to project an image as the most serious man in the industry had learnt to laugh at himself towards the end,” said a nostalgic Balki. “If that isn’t a sign of humility, then what isIJ” he echoed.
He also revealed that Khanna’s feeble health did not hinder him from indulging in a lot of gossip. “Even with all the health issues he was facing, he emitted the aura of a gleeful child. And he was always game for some masaledaar gossip,” recounted Balki with a laugh.
Khanna perished almost three years ago, but the heated dialogues which are inspired today by his activities back then are eminent in echoing the fact that he indeed was a dark star, now a never-ending black hole. But that being said, it is safe to conclude that mass adulation will never touch the Khanna peak again for a long while.