Remembering Rajesh Khanna on his birth anniversary with his iconic movies
29 Dec 2021 15:45:02
Mumbai, December 29: Bollywood’s first superstar, Rajesh Khanna, would have turned 79 years old today, if he were alive. Born in Amritsar, Punjab on December 29 1942, he made his debut in 1966 with ‘Aakhri Khat’ - which was India’s first official Oscar Entry in 1967.
Khanna achieved super-stardom with Shakti Samantha's 'Aradhana' that also starred veteran actor Sharmila Tagore in lead role. With his versatility in acting, he has entertained audience in over 100 films. Khanna, who was fondly called as Kaka, also made the world record of having 17 successive super-hits in 3 years from 1969-71 which included 15 consecutive solo super-hit films. The actor won the Filmfare Best Actor Awards on 3 occasions and was nominated 14 times it.
A few iconic movies of the actor:
Aradhana (1969): The romantic drama directed by Shakti Samanta featured Khanna in 2 distinct roles and proved to be a showreel for him. It had a strong female protagonist, evergreen songs like Mere Sapno Ki Rani and Khanna’s charming presence. The film proved to be a blockbuster, setting the stage for the actor to deliver 14 more solo hits consecutively between 1969 and 1971.
Anand (1971): In the movie, Khanna played the role of Anand, who has lymphosarcoma of the intestine, a rare cancer. Despite knowing the truth that he is not going to survive for more than 6 months, he maintains a cheerful demeanour and always tries to make everyone happy. The film also starred Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role. The dialogues of this movie were written by the famous poet Gulzar. He also won the Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue.
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Avtaar (1983): The Mohan Kumar directorial film starred Khanna and veteran actos Shabana Azmi in the lead roles. It became a commercial hit. Kaka played the role of Avataar Krishen, who leads a happy life with his wife, Radha (Shabana), and his sons, Chandan (Gulshan Grover) and Ramesh (Shashi Puri). But after getting consumed by greed, his sons betray him but he soon reaches new heights of success.
Roti (1974): The movie did immensely well commercially, and helped director Manmohan Desai emerge as the face of ‘formula cinema’. The film revolvs around the events that force the protagonist Mangal to become a criminal and eventually meet a cruel fate. It was remade in Telugu as Neram Nadi Kadu AkalIdi, starring Sr NTR.
