Friday 27 July 2012

Death of a Superstar - Remembering Rajesh Khanna



Written by Dr. Seshadri Kumar, July 26, 2012

Copyright © Dr. Seshadri Kumar, 2012.  All Rights Reserved.

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Disclaimer: All the opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of Dr. Seshadri Kumar alone and should not be construed to mean the opinions of any other person or organization, unless explicitly stated otherwise in the article.

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As most people who follow Hindi cinema now know, the first superstar of Hindi cinema, Rajesh Khanna, also known in the film industry as Kaka, died at 69 on 18th July, 2012.  Every news report about Kaka’s death starts with how he was the first “superstar” of Hindi cinema.  Yes, it is true that, with the modern meaning of the word “superstar,” he was a bigger star than any before or after him in Hindi cinema.  But a little reflection on the origin of the word “superstar” makes you realize that Kaka was an anomaly in stellar terms.

According to the theories of star death, very large stars end their life through what is known as a supernova, or a massive stellar explosion which blows them into bits, and often end up as a black hole, something that cannot be seen, only felt.  Stars that are much smaller, smaller than the Chandrasekhar limit (named after our own Dr. S. Chandrasekhar, the Nobel Physics Prize winner of 1983) end their life, well, in a whimper.  They gradually lose their surrounding matter, and become tiny remnants with a mild luminosity, and are known as white dwarfs. Over a long period of time, the brightness slowly fades, as a flashlight that has been kept on might slowly fade, until the light in them goes out, and they become completely black, and are called black dwarfs.

The anomaly of Rajesh Khanna is that although he was equivalent, at his peak, in astronomical terms, to a super-massive star, his descent into oblivion was characteristic of stars that are as small as our own sun.

But stars never burn in vain, and as long as Kaka burned brightly, he lit up the world in the way only he could, and left many lifetimes’ worth of memories through his movies and songs.  So while we mourn the loss of someone who was larger than life for many of us, we also remember fondly the many ways in which he made and continues to make us smile, laugh, and cry.

Rajesh Mania

I am young enough that I never experienced Rajesh-mania first-hand.  I was too small during Kaka’s golden period, 1969-1973, to have seen any of his early movies, or remember having seen any of them, in a theatre.  However, I was constantly exposed to his songs through the radio and, later, to his movies on Doordarshan.  I still remember the whole family watching Anand on Doordarshan and marvelling at the acting of Rajesh Khanna.  We similarly watched Amar Prem and the classic dialogue, “Ro mat Pushpa, I hate tears...” and watched him with awe, even though as a rule we were staunch Amitabh followers.  My movie-going days coincided with the rise of Amitabh Bachchan, but because I was born at this crossover time, I also had a soft corner for Rajesh Khanna.

So, from my personal experience, I was mostly exposed to Rajesh Khanna through his old movies that would appear regularly on Doordarshan, and his old songs that would appear on Chhayageet or Chitrahaar.  Once in a while, songs from his new movies would appear on Chitrahaar, etc. – I distinctly remember watching “Shayad meri shaadi ka khayal” from Souten and “Kabhi bekasi ne mara” from Alag Alag on Chhayageet (the latter about 4 or 5 times in a row - I think he had a fan in DD Mumbai).

Having watched movies like Anand, Safar, Amar Prem and the like on Doordarshan, I, and most of my friends, thought these “new” movies like Souten and Alag Alag were pathetic attempts by a has-been star to come back.  The fact that he was much better-looking in those older movies and had lost much of his good looks through a dissipated life full of alcohol abuse did not help him either.  Eventually, even the rate of appearance of the new movies slowed down, and they finally stopped coming.  Once in a while you would hear about a movie like Avtaar being a hit, but you never bothered to go see it.  I think that, for me, the magic was in the Rajesh Khanna of the Anand days, and I really could not accept him in any other avatar.

His Films: The King of Romance and Much More

For, to me, as to millions more, he was the quintessential romance king.  I could never forget the way he would wink and nod at Asha Parekh in “Yeh Shaam Mastani” or the smouldering look he had in “Roop Tera Mastana.”  His charisma was so great that I remember watching Andaz as a small kid on TV but forgot all about Shammi Kapoor, who was the main actor in the film.  With just 5 minutes of screen time, Rajesh Khanna stole the show with that fantastic song, “Zindagi ek Safar hai Suhana.”  Only years later did I do a google search for that movie and find out that Khanna’s character dies very early in that movie.  (Though I do remember the great children’s song, “Re mama re mama re,” I never connected it with that movie.)  But that is Rajesh Khanna for you – when he was at his peak, you really didn’t notice anyone else.

But Khanna was much more than just the king of romance.  He was a fairly good actor, and he chose films which were meaningful, with sensitive roles – often stories with complex romantic relationships.  This was really the genre to which his emotive skills were best-suited.  This age of sensitive family dramas gave way to the action genre with the rise of Amitabh, and though you occasionally had some intelligent stories, I think it is fair to say that good stories took a backseat with the rise of the action genre in Bollywood.  And Rajesh Khanna will always remain in my mind a symbol of the times when good stories ruled and plot mattered.

With the rise of Amitabh Bachchan and the action movie genre, people deserted Rajesh Khanna.  Khanna continued making his kind of films; they just didn’t sell.  One could argue that he could have tried to reinvent himself as an action star, but I doubt he would have succeeded.  It would have been very hard for anyone to compete with the Big B in the action genre at that time.

Relationships with Directors

An analysis of the data given in the Wikipedia page on Rajesh Khanna’s filmography reveals that he has worked with as many as 90 different directors (not counting special appearances), which is a remarkably large number for any actor.  Shakti Samanta was his favourite director, having been responsible for some of his all-time great hits such as Amar Prem, Kati Patang, and Aradhana.  Khanna did 8 films with Samanta, including Awaaz, Ajnabee, and his home production, Alag Alag.  Kaka also had unforgettable films with Hrishikesh Mukherjee, notably Anand, Namak Haram (both with Amitabh Bachchan), and Bawarchi, and also worked with him on Naukri.  He also had 4 films with B.R. Ishara (who, incidentally, died yesterday – RIP) but most of these were forgettable fare in the later phase of his career.  He had three films with J. Om Prakash, including the outstanding Aap Ki Kasam.  He also had three films with Yash Chopra, including the critically acclaimed Daag and the song-less crime thriller Ittefaq.

One is led to question why Kaka did not have more solid partnerships with directors, which might have led to them insisting on him being in their films time after time.  Perhaps his much-talked about mercurial personality is responsible for this.  Stories of him always arriving late for shooting engagements with no concern for his co-stars, directors, or crew are legend.  (To get an idea, see the outstanding BBC documentary on Rajesh Khanna, created in 1973, titled “Bombay Superstar.”)  

At any rate, even one or two movies with many directors have turned into unforgettable films.  Asit Sen had the unforgettable Khamoshi and Safar, both featuring terrific performances by Khanna, and some unforgettable music.  Chetan Anand made only two movies with Kaka, but one of them was his first release, Aakhri Khat, which he was contractually obligated to sign Khanna for because Khanna won the national acting contest, and the other, Kudrat, featured some fine performances which even garnered Khanna an award nomination.  Manmohan Desai made two movies with Khanna, and one of them, Saccha Jhoota, was one of Khanna’s biggest hits.  Din Dayal Sharma made just one film, Tyaag, with Khanna, but it was nominated for a Filmfare award.  Basu Bhattacharya made only one film, Aavishkar, with Khanna, but that fetched him a Filmfare award.  Basu Chatterjee directed Kaka in just one film, Chakravyuha, but it fetched Kaka an award nomination.  Dulal Guha made the highly successful Dushman, but no other with Khanna.  Lekh Tandon scored big with Khanna with Agar Tum Na Hote.  There are other examples, but one does wonder whether, despite the trend towards action-based movies and the Amitabh wave of the late 70s and 80s, Rajesh Khanna could have continued to succeed with his brand of sensitive, complex emotional dramas, had he but known better how to cultivate relationships with people in the film industry.

During his decline that started in the mid 70s and continued to the end of his life, he did a lot of films with many South Indian directors, who still believed in the superstar image of Rajesh Khanna.  Notable among these were Dasari Narayana Rao, K. Bapayya, K. Raghavendra Rao, C.V. Sridhar, A.C. Trilokchander, S.A. Chandrasekhar, R. Thyagarajan, and even the legendary Bharatiraja, who chose Khanna to remake his “Red Rose” which starred Kamal Hasan in the original Tamil.  Such was the respect people in the South had, both for Kaka’s acting skills and his superstar marketability.

Durability as an Actor

One of the things I was quite surprised about when I did the research for this article is just how durable an actor Rajesh Khanna was.  He vanished from the limelight with the advent of Amitabh, but like the white dwarf in the cosmos, he never stopped shining – his light only became weaker, but never so weak you could not notice it.  An analysis of the number of films that Khanna acted in over the years, extracted from the same Wikipedia site quoted above, reveals that Khanna continued to be busy through the 80s, with a significant drop in his output apparent only in 1991.   Figure 1 shows the distribution of movies of Kaka over the years (excluding special appearances).  

Figure 1.  Distribution of Rajesh Khanna’s Movies Over the Years

Statistics sometimes reveal truths the mind could scarcely have guessed.  The surprising thing about this graph is that in 1986 he appeared in 11 releases as a hero, which exceeds his 10 releases from 1972, during his most successful period as a hero.  Movie studios and producers are not fools with their money, and this high number of movies in a year, even in the late period of his career, must mean that they were likely making at least a modest profit, and at worst breaking even, with him as the lead actor, even if he was no longer the superstar he once was.

Partnerships with Actresses

Khanna partnered with 55 different leading ladies in films, a tribute again to his longevity as an actor.  Figure 2 shows how different actresses paired with him in his movies (only actresses who have acted in at least 3 movies with him are shown here.)


Figure 2.  Distribution of Kaka’s Leading Ladies

Hema Malini leads the pack with 12 films, including films like Prem Nagar in 1974, Mehbooba in 1976 (of the “Mere naina sawan bhadon” fame), the critically acclaimed Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein in 1977, and Kudrat in 1981.  She acted with Kaka in several films in the 80s.  She is followed by Sharmila Tagore with 9 (including the all-time favourites Aradhana, Amar Prem, and Safar) and Mumtaz with 8.  The Rajesh-Mumtaz pair was legendary in its day and made such blockbusters like Do Raaste, Saccha Jhoota, Dushman, and Aap Ki Kasam.  Matching Mumtaz, astonishingly, is Tina Munim which, considering her almost-nonexistent talent as an actress (yes, she was quite beautiful – but there is only so long you can keep looking at a fixed expression without getting bored out of your wits), is a tribute to Kaka’s keen interest in her career.  The fact that a couple of these were reasonable hits – Souten and Alag Alag – is more a tribute to Kaka’s residual charm at that stage, combined with the great singing of Kishore Kumar, than to Munim’s rather wooden presence. 

These are followed by, not surprisingly, Rekha and Shabana Azmi with 7 each, and quite surprisingly, Jaya Prada with 7.  The Jaya Prada number can at least be partially explained by the strong interest of South Indian directors in Khanna in his lean period.  Rekha acted in some of Khanna’s memorable films, such as Namak Haram, Agar Tum Na Hote, and Prem Bandhan.  Shabana has featured, most memorably, in Thodisi Bewafai, Avtaar, and Aaj Ka MLA Ram Avtar.  Reena Roy and Moushumi Chatterjee also makes an appearance in 6 of his films, mostly in the forgettable phase of his career, while Zeenat appears on-screen with Kaka in 5 films, the most notable of which is Ajnabee. 

Of actresses who acted in just a few movies with Kaka, it is important to mention Nanda, who was an established actress and acted with Khanna in some of his earliest movies such as The Train and Ittefaq; Waheeda, who acted with Khanna in Khamoshi and, like Nanda, played an important role in recommending him to producers; Tanuja, who acted with Khanna in 3 films, two of which were hits, namely Haathi mere Saathi and Mere Jeevan Saathi; and the extremely talented Jaya Bhaduri (now Bachchan), who only acted with Khanna in one film; however, this singular partnership gave rise to a highly entertaining and successful film, Bawarchi.

The Music of Rajesh Khanna Films

Ultimately, though, Indian movie stars are most strongly connected to their audience through the music of their films.  A good soundtrack can make or break a film.  Let’s face it – most Indian movies have hackneyed plots and, with few exceptions, don’t warrant repeated viewing.  The portions of the movie that have the greatest recall value are the songs, if they are good.  In this regard Kaka was extraordinarily fortunate.  In at least this department, he maintained strong relationships with some music directors and one particular singer who, singlehandedly, is responsible for much of the magic of Rajesh Khanna – Kishore Kumar.

I get tired of watching “Top 10” lists of Rajesh Khanna hits on TV programs.  There are so many good songs there; how do you pick the top 10?  It is really impossible.  I find such programs quite lazy, really, listing only the obvious hits (e.g., Zindagi ka Safar) and ignoring several gems that are not as well-known as they deserve to be.

So I have created, after listening to practically every song in almost every movie of his (until 1991, after which point I realized that no one was writing songs for him – he was usually appearing in movies as a character actor then onwards), a comprehensive list of all his hit songs and good songs.  As in my earlier article about Dev Anand’s songs, I have also included songs in which there is no male lead singer, provided the male actor is present in the picturization, because I believe that his mere presence contributes to the effect of the song.  

Many of my selections in the list will be incontrovertible choices; an example of such a selection is the all-time classic “Zindagi ka Safar” from Safar (1970).  But some have been included because they were popular at the time, even though they may not represent a milestone in musicality.  An example of such a song is “Chhod maza haath mala peene de,” which I remember to be quite a popular song at the time, though obviously no one would claim that it is a great song.

Such a list, by definition, is subjective, although I would hope that most of the songs in the list would be on anyone else’s list as well.  I also could only listen to those songs that either I possessed or that I could listen to on the internet.  I made the reasonable assumption that a song that no one would care to put up on a website probably wasn’t worth listening to anyway.  And that is saying a lot, considering I had to filter out a lot of trash to come up with this list.

The Appendix shows the comprehensive list of Kaka’s hits.  Over a period of 21 years, from 1966 until 1987, I found 159 songs worthy of repeated listening and hence qualified to be in this list.  Some will be obvious to you; others, I hope, will be pleasant discoveries.  The song titles are hyperlinked to youtube.  Several things stand out on examination of this list, which I will discuss in greater detail below.



Figure 3.  Composers of Rajesh Khanna’s Hit Songs

A look at Figure 3 shows the one thing that any follower of either Kaka’s career or RD Burman’s, for that matter, would have guessed quite easily – that Pancham is the composer of the most Rajesh Khanna hits.  For those who do not know, Pancham, Kaka, and Kishore Kumar were very close friends, and the root of this triangular friendship goes way back to Aradhana (1969), Kaka’s first super hit film, which had Pancham as the assistant to his father and the composer of the film, SD Burman, and Kishore-da as the singer.  Bollywood actors are fairly superstitious people, and Rajesh Khanna was certainly so, as has been reported widely on Indian TV and Indian film magazines, and so Rajesh Khanna continued for a long time with this pair.

I am not a big fan of superstition myself, but in this case Kaka’s superstition seems to have helped him really well.  Pancham turned out a huge number of hits for Kaka – 55 out of my list of 159, or more than a third.  What is not so obvious, but stands out from Figure 3, is the fact that Laxmikant-Pyarelal were not far behind, with 48.  I had heard Pyarelal Sharma mention in an interview that after RD Burman, they had composed the most for Kaka.  I was sceptical about this claim, thinking that yes, maybe they composed a lot of songs for Kaka, but how many of those songs were good?  But the research proved me wrong.

One unusual composer you will find in this list is Kanu Roy, who composed a lovely song sung by Manna Dey for Kaka in Aavishkar from 1974.  Kanu Roy was a minor music director who was also an actor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanu_Roy), but this track truly deserved to be in the list.

The other big surprise for most of you will be the name of Naushad in this list.  Even in 1982, Naushad had his fans.  Sultan Ahmed asked him to create the music for Dharam Kaanta, and Naushad proceeded to create music for a 1982 film as though he were still living in the sixties.  So this number from Dharam Kaanta, “Duniya choote yaar na choote,” is a complete anachronism, but if you forget that fact, it is actually a pretty nice song.  Rafi and Bhupinder deliver on the vocals. (Naushad would only use Rafi in his songs, even though by 1982 Kishore was the king of Bollywood.  But then, as I said, he was still mentally in the 1960s, as his compositions for the film show.)

There are a few more lonely figures out there.  Usha Khanna got the only big hit of her later career thanks to Rajesh Khanna’s Souten.  Madan Mohan had one great soundtrack of Rajesh Khanna to his credit – Bawarchi.  And Hemant Kumar features in this list only because of Khamoshi, which had some unforgettable numbers (one great song which could not be included in this list, because it was featured not on Kaka but on Dharmendra, which was from Khamoshi, was the all-time classic, “Tum pukar lo, tumhara intezar hai.”)  And Salil-da had only 3 hits in Kaka’s career ... but can anyone forget the songs of Anand?

One notable exception from this list is OP Nayyar.  Quite surprisingly, he never seems to have composed the music for a single Rajesh Khanna film.  The only reasonable explanation for this fact is simply that Rajesh Khanna came on the scene late enough (1969) that by this time, OP had finished antagonizing about everyone he could in Bollywood, and very few people wanted to work with him anyway.  Like the subject of our present study, OP too had a reputation of being an arrogant egotist, albeit a genius.  So don’t feel bad and start wondering about the “what ifs” – they probably wouldn’t have gotten along, anyway.

Singers


Figure 4.  Singers for Rajesh Khanna’s Songs

I could end this section simply with Figure 4 and no one would complain – this one figure says it all as far as singers for Khanna’s songs are concerned.  The complete domination of Kishore Kumar over all other singers when it comes to Rajesh Khanna cannot be elaborated by an essay of any length more eloquently than this figure.  The utter belief of Rajesh Khanna that Kishore Kumar was the only person who could be his “voice” is borne out by the following story that you might have heard. 

Apparently during the making of Dushman in 1972, Kishore Kumar got to know that he had to sing a qawwali, “Jhoota hai tera waada, waada tera waada.”  Kishore Kumar protested that qawwalis were not his forte and that Kaka might do better to ask Mohammad Rafi to sing the song, since Rafi was very good at singing these songs.  Kaka just told Kishore, “Ok, then we’ll drop the song.”  On being told this, Kishore said it was too good a song to drop and he would sing it.  The result is amazing. 

The other great story that many would have heard about the great friendship between Kishore and Kaka is that when Kaka produced his first film, Alag Alag (1985), Kishore refused to accept a single paisa as a fee.  His contention was that his own resurgence and superstardom as a singer was due to Kaka’s Aradhana, and so it would not be right of him to charge Kaka money for his own film.

But the real insight we get from this picture is about who else sang for Rajesh Khanna.  I was really surprised to know that the wonderful songs “Teri aankhon ki chahat mein” and “Humse ka bhool hui” were sung for Rajesh Khanna, not by Mohammad Rafi, as I had always assumed, but by Anwar Hussain, a man who has a voice that seems like a perfect copy of Rafi’s.  Wonder why this guy did not make it big.  

Another surprise was Manhar Udhas singing “Jeevan saathi saath mein rehna” from Amrit (1986).  And Suresh Wadkar, whom I have always liked, chips in with a nice song for Kaka in Mithun’s Disco Dancer, in which Kaka plays mentor to the young dancer.   

And in case you are wondering which song RD Burman has sung for Kaka (if you REALLY don’t know), it is that immortal “Duniya mein, logon ko” from Apna Desh (1972), a rocking, timeless song with Kaka and Mumtaz on screen and RD and Asha on playback.

Hits Through The Years

A real surprise for me was to know how many hit songs Kaka had even after his peak years were far behind him.  Figure 5 shows the year-wise distribution of the 159 selected songs in my list over the years.  


Figure 5.  Distribution of Kaka’s Hit Songs Over the Years

The correlation between good music and hit movies is obvious from this graph.  The years 1971-1972 were the years of Kaka’s superstardom – these were the years in which he delivered 15 consecutive super hit movies – a record that will likely never be broken.  In each of these years, he had 24 super hit songs!!!  

But the interesting thing about this graph is that Kaka always had good luck with songs.  Even in his late period, from 1980-86, he had an average of almost 6 hits a year, which is quite an accomplishment.  This is probably one of the reasons why he continued to be a bankable star even in the mid-80s.  Eventually, though, all the make-up in the world cannot hide your age, and he stopped getting songs featured on him in movies, which is why the hit parade ends in 1987.

Concluding Thoughts

The persona of an Indian actor is moulded by five main ingredients – his own personality and charisma, good stories, great, visionary directors, talented music directors and, finally, great singers to give playback to the actors.  The combination of all these factors is what the Indian audience sees and remembers.  Rajesh Khanna was a gifted actor with matchless charisma.  He was also fortunate to have great people help him in all the other departments.  He had directors like Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Shakti Samanta make great movies for him; he had good stories like Anand, Namak Haram, Amar Prem, and Khamoshi to display his histrionic skills in; excellent music directors like Pancham and LP to give him great music for the songs in his films; and finally the late, great Kishore Kumar, to make Khanna’s character soar on screen with his heavenly baritone.  Fuelled by all these factors, he reached heights which can perhaps never be matched in the history of Hindi cinema.

His rise was meteoric in the way most people cannot even dream of; yet it was probably this rise that destroyed him.  People who criticize his behaviour should understand that he experienced the sort of adulation that most of us can never imagine getting.  And, like him, we would also not know how to react properly if we ever got that kind of adulation.   He himself has admitted that he did not know how to handle the adulation.  There is a story I heard from a friend how Kaka went once to Chandigarh and people prostrated themselves on the floor all along the red carpet so he could walk over them on the way to the stage rather than walk on the floor.  That is a kind of adulation even our present superstar, Amitabh Bachchan, probably never experienced.

His loss of fame and prestige, after scaling such heights was, therefore, all the more difficult to bear.  His later period was marked with grief, bitterness, and disappointment; people who could have helped him regain some of his standing in the industry did not help him – they probably remembered his misbehaviour during his heyday and wanted their revenge.  And yet he persevered in acting in films, for that was what defined him, and today he has left us with a rich treasure house of memories, not only from his golden days but, through his songs, from his later films as well, until he could not give us any more. 

Thinking of his golden songs, perhaps it is fitting that he died during the monsoon season in Mumbai.  For, as he says in this immortal number from Anurodh through Kishore Kumar's golden voice,

Jab dard nahin tha seene mein,
Tab khaak mazaa tha jeene mein
Ab ke shaayad, hum bhi royen
Sawan ke mahine mein

When there was no sorrow in the heart,
There was no joy in life
Now, perhaps, even I will shed tears,
In the season of the rains.

But all the tears and the rains cannot wash away the beautiful memories that you have created for us with a lifetime of work, Kaka.  Your songs and movies will continue to cheer and inspire us – for generations to come.

So, thank you for the memories, Kaka.  And hope you have found that peace in death which eluded you all your life.

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my wife, Sandhya Srinivasan, for her help in bouncing off ideas on songs for the list, for her suggestions regarding this article, and for her help in proof-reading this article.

Appendix: Kumar's List of the Best Rajesh Khanna Songs


Song Title
Movie
Year
Music Director
1
Aakhri Khat
1966
Khayyam
2
Bahaaron ke Sapne
1967
RD Burman
3
Bahaaron ke Sapne
1967
RD Burman
4
Raaz
1967
Kalyanji Anandji
5
Aradhana
1969
SD Burman
6
Aradhana
1969
SD Burman
7
Aradhana
1969
SD Burman
8
Aradhana
1969
SD Burman
9
Aradhana
1969
SD Burman
Bandhan
1969
Kalyanji Anandji
Do Raaste
1969
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Do Raaste
1969
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Do Raaste
1969
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Do Raaste
1969
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Khamoshi
1969
Hemant Kumar
Saccha Jhutha
1970
Kalyanji Anandji
17
Saccha Jhutha
1970
Kalyanji Anandji
Saccha Jhutha
1970
Kalyanji Anandji
Safar
1970
Kalyanji Anandji
Safar
1970
Kalyanji Anandji
21
Safar
1970
Kalyanji Anandji
22
The Train
1970
RD Burman
Aan Milo Sajna
1971
Laxmikant Pyarelal
24
Aan Milo Sajna
1971
Laxmikant Pyarelal
25
Aan Milo Sajna
1971
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Aan Milo Sajna
1971
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Anand
1971
Salil Chaudhary
28
Anand
1971
Salil Chaudhary
Anand
1971
Salil Chaudhary
Andaz
1971
Shankar Jaikishan
Chhoti Bahu
1971
Kalyanji Anandji
Haathi mere Saathi
1971
Laxmikant Pyarelal
33
Haathi mere Saathi
1971
Laxmikant Pyarelal
34
Haathi mere Saathi
1971
Laxmikant Pyarelal
35
Haathi mere Saathi
1971
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Kati Patang
1971
RD Burman
Kati Patang
1971
RD Burman
Kati Patang
1971
RD Burman
Kati Patang
1971
RD Burman
Kati Patang
1971
RD Burman
Kati Patang
1971
RD Burman
Maryada
1971
Kalyanji Anandji
Maryada
1971
Kalyanji Anandji
Mehboob Ki mehndi
1971
Laxmikant Pyarelal
45
Mehboob Ki mehndi
1971
Laxmikant Pyarelal
46
Mehboob Ki mehndi
1971
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Amar Prem
1972
RD Burman
48
Amar Prem
1972
RD Burman
Amar Prem
1972
RD Burman
Amar Prem
1972
RD Burman
Apna Desh
1972
RD Burman
Apna Desh
1972
RD Burman
53
Apna Desh
1972
RD Burman
Bawarchi
1972
Madan Mohan
Bawarchi
1972
Madan Mohan
Bawarchi
1972
Madan Mohan
Dil Daulat Duniya
1972
Shankar Jaikishan
Dil Daulat Duniya
1972
Shankar Jaikishan
Dushman
1972
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Dushman
1972
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Joroo
Ka Ghulam
1972
Kalyanji Anandji
Mere Jeevan Saathi
1972
RD Burman
63
Mere Jeevan Saathi
1972
RD Burman
Mere Jeevan Saathi
1972
RD Burman
Mere Jeevan Saathi
1972
RD Burman
Mere Jeevan Saathi
1972
RD Burman
67
Mere Jeevan Saathi
1972
RD Burman
68
Shehzada
1972
RD Burman
Shehzada
1972
RD Burman
Shehzada
1972
RD Burman
Anuraag
1973
SD Burman
Daag - A poem of love
1973
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Daag - A poem of love
1973
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Daag - A poem of love
1973
Laxmikant Pyarelal
75
Daag - A poem of love
1973
Laxmikant Pyarelal
76
Namak Haram
1973
RD Burman
77
Namak Haram
1973
RD Burman
78
Namak Haram
1973
RD Burman
Raja Rani
1973
RD Burman
Aap Ki Kasam
1974
RD Burman
Aap Ki Kasam
1974
RD Burman
82
Aap Ki Kasam
1974
RD Burman
Aap Ki Kasam
1974
RD Burman
Aavishkar
1974
Kanu Roy
Ajnabee
1974
RD Burman
Ajnabee
1974
RD Burman
87
Ajnabee
1974
RD Burman
Prem Nagar
1974
SD Burman
Prem Nagar
1974
SD Burman
90
Prem Nagar
1974
SD Burman
Prem Nagar
1974
SD Burman
Prem Nagar
1974
SD Burman
Roti
1974
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Roti
1974
Laxmikant Pyarelal
95
Roti
1974
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Prem Kahani
1975
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Prem Kahani
1975
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Maha Chor
1976
RD Burman
99
Maha Chor
1976
RD Burman
Mehbooba
1976
RD Burman
Mehbooba
1976
RD Burman
102
Mehbooba
1976
RD Burman
Aaashiq Hoon Bahaaron Ka
1977
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Anurodh
1977
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Anurodh
1977
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Anurodh
1977
Laxmikant Pyarelal
107
Anurodh
1977
Laxmikant Pyarelal
108
Chhaila Babu
1977
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Karm
1977
RD Burman
110
Karm
1977
RD Burman
111
Karm
1977
RD Burman
Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein
1977
Laxmikant Pyarelal
113
Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein
1977
Laxmikant Pyarelal
114
Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein
1977
Laxmikant Pyarelal
115
Bhola Bhala
1978
RD Burman
116
Janata Havaldar
1979
Rajesh Roshan
117
Janata Havaldar
1979
Rajesh Roshan
Aanchal
1980
RD Burman
Bandish
1980
Laxmikant Pyarelal
120
Bandish
1980
Laxmikant Pyarelal
121
Bandish
1980
Laxmikant Pyarelal
122
Bandish
1980
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Thodisi Bewafaai
1980
Khayyam
Dard
1981
Khayyam
Dard
1981
Khayyam
126
Fiffty Fiffty
1981
Laxmikant Pyarelal
127
Kudrat
1981
RD Burman
128
Kudrat
1981
RD Burman
129
Ashanti
1982
RD Burman
130
Dil-e-Naadaan
1982
Khayyam
131
Dil-e-Naadaan
1982
Khayyam
132
Rajput
1982
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Agar Tum Na Hote
1983
RD Burman
Agar Tum Na Hote
1983
RD Burman
135
Avtaar
1983
Laxmikant Pyarelal
136
Avtaar
1983
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Dharam Kaanta
1983
Naushad
138
Disco Dancer
1983
Bappi Lahiri
Nishaan
1983
Rajesh Roshan
Nishaan
1983
Rajesh Roshan
141
Souten
1983
Usha Khanna
142
Souten
1983
Usha Khanna
143
Souten
1983
Usha Khanna
144
Aaj Ka MLA Ram Avtar
1984
Bappi Lahiri
Asha Jyoti
1984
Laxmikant Pyarelal
146
Maqsad
1984
Bappi Lahiri
Maqsad
1984
Bappi Lahiri
148
Paapi Pet Ka Sawaal Hai
1984
Shankar Jaikishan
149
Aakhir Kyon
1985
Rajesh Roshan
Aakhir kyon
1985
Rajesh Roshan
Alag Alag
1985
RD Burman
152
Alag Alag
1985
RD Burman
Awara Baap
1985
RD Burman
154
Babu
1985
Rajesh Roshan
155
Adhikar
1986
RD Burman
156
Amrit
1986
Laxmikant Pyarelal
Amrit
1986
Laxmikant Pyarelal
158
Amrit
1986
Laxmikant Pyarelal
159
Nazrana
1987
Laxmikant Pyarelal




50 comments:

  1. Really very nice after reading this article of Rajesh Khanna Ji

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    1. Thanks, Ganesh! Forward the link to those you think might be interested!

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  2. awesome review. loved reading it.

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    1. Thanks, Sudipto! Feel free to forward the link to those who might enjoy it!

      Delete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Fantastic! Thanks for the compilation and analysis. This kind of comprehensiveness was sorely missing from all the reporting on Rajesh Khanna's passing on. A great read!

    Fatema

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    1. Thanks very much, Fatema! Look also at the articles in December 2011 and you might enjoy the tribute to Dev saab as well. And feel free to forward the links to any of the articles to whoever might enjoy reading them!

      Kumar

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  5. nice skillful and fascinating writing...data compilation is marvelous...overall fantastic...

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    1. Thanks very much! Please pass on the link! And you might also like the earlier tribute (December 2011) to Dev Anand.

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  6. Very interesting & detailed compilation....
    keep 'em coming

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    1. Thanks, Rahul! But I don't know how to interpret your exhortation, "keep 'em coming" ... considering I write one of these tributes only when a luminary dies, for me to "keep 'em coming" they need to keep "going off" as my Gujju friends say! :-) Not sure that's a very good thing! :-)

      Delete
  7. Wow, this is quite an article. Lots of research and detail. I'm very much impressed by your passion - fantastic job!!!

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    1. Thanks very much! You might also like my Dev Anand tribute (in my blog articles for December 2011) if you liked this!

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  8. Kumar - This is a great review: well-researched and presented. And what a tribute to RD, LP, KA and Kishore Kumar as well - we will have to go down memory lane with some of these gems when we meet next. Perhaps, this is the only instance of an article on Rajesh Khanna after his death that celebrates his films and songs rather than relives his tabloid-worthy personal life. The statistics are particularly interesting. I was not old enough to witness the RK wonder years (1969-1974) but have memories from childhood when all the loudspeakers blared all the Kaka hits. Some observations:

    1. All the major box-office hits of RK's career had music by LP (1) or KA (2). However, RD consistently gave the best music for RK throughout his career although unfortunately a number of great soundtracks were in commercially unsuccesful films. I regret to this day that I do not have an original LP recording of Alag Alag. Deemed a classic today, the disc was never released in 1985.

    2. Incidentally, the major contributors to Amitabh's career all had their first major success (career-defining film) with Rajesh Khanna: Salim-Javed (Haathi Mere Saathi), Kader Khan (Roti) and Manmohan Desai (Sachha Jhutha). I guess you could include Ramesh Sippy for Andaz as well.

    3. I did see all of Rajesh Khanna's hit films as reruns in the single screens of Lamington Road. I remember sometime in 1990 when Daag was playing in Maratha Mandir. The sold out audience demanded an encore of "Mere Dil Mein Aaj Kya Hai" and the projectionist obliged by replaying the reel! Coins were flung in appreciation on both occasions. Ditto for "Meri Pyari Behaniya" in Saccha Jhutha.

    4. Since this is nothing short of a research paper, I do have a few suggestions/comments. Some songs are missing from your list. I concluded that your list was targeted towards what was available on YouTube. Ex. "Yaar Hamari Baat Suno" from Roti. There are some relatively unknown movies with great songs - I will send those to you in a separate list e.g. Oonche Log and Chalta Purza.

    Cheers,

    Avinash

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    1. Thanks, Avinash, for those great suggestions! I will reply pointwise below:

      1. I cannot agree with your point that "All the major box-office hits of RK's career had music by LP or KA" - the facts contradict this. What about Amar Prem, Kati Patang, Apna Desh, Namak Haram, and Aap Ki Kasam? I am not sure if Mere Jeevan Saathi was a big hit, even though the songs are outstanding, but that's also an RD gem. And The Train was also a commercially successful film in that 15-hit period of Kaka. Even if you exclude MJS from the list of big hits, that's more than KA: Saccha Jhoota, Safar, and Maryada in the same blockbuster period of RK. Not sure if Shehzada and Prem Nagar were hits. LP probably matched RD: Do Raaste, Aan Milo Sajna, Haathi mere Saathi, Mehboob ki Mehndi (but not sure if this was a big hit), Dushman, Daag, Roti. I'm talking of movies upto 1975. I don't know if Anurodh and Palkon ki Chhaon mein were hits.

      2. Great point, agree completely. Thanks!

      3. This is a fantastic anecdote! Thanks again!

      4. Look forward to your list, as always. I wasn't only looking at what's available on youtube - I looked at sites that only featured the mp3 songs as well, in case I could not get the song on youtube. I did listen to "yaar hamari baat suno," and at the time I thought maybe it didn't warrant inclusion in the list, but after seeing your response I went back and listened to it and I think I should include it. I did listen to oonche log and chalta purza songs, but do send me your list; maybe I missed something. Also, after your input on the Dev Anand list, I have added one criterion. Even if I don't think the song is great musically, if it was quite popular, it merits inclusion. I thought about "Baby ghar chalo" from Chalta Purza, but I wasn't sure. And those songs are all available on youtube, btw. Which is why I said in my post that if something is not available on the net (either on youtube or another site), it is probably not that important - but there can be exceptions.

      One request to you: can you put together a list of which of the movies of Kaka were hits (the full list of movies is in my list above or on the wikipage), which were flops? It's been a long time since these came out and my memory is not good now. You might know better than me.

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    2. Kumar - Glad you liked the anecdote. Your request has inspired me to look up my database. My criterion for a hit is box-office success in the year of release (must be in the Top 5 hits of that year). By that yardstick, RK has delivered 12 hits in his career. Of these, only 2 have music by R.D. Burman and even so had collections that were less than 50% of the leading hit. The list is given below in the form year, movie, rank, music director (should ideally be in a table):

      1966-1968 No movie in Top 5
      1969 Aradhana (#1) S.D.
      1969 Do Raaste (#2) LP
      1970 Sachha Jhoota (#1) KA
      1970 Kati Patang (#3) RD * Less than 50% of collections of top-hit (Saccha Jhutha)
      1971 Haathi Mere Saathi (#1) LP
      1971 Dushman (#2) LP
      1971 Maryada (#4) KA
      1972 Apna Desh (#3) RD * Less than 50% of collections of top-hit (Seeta Aur Geeta)
      1973 Daag (#4) LP
      1974 Prem Nagar (#4) LP
      1975-1982 No movie in Top 5
      1983 Souten (#6) Usha Khanna * Less than 50% of the collections of Coolie
      1984 Maqsad (#3) Bappi Lahiri
      1985-2012 No hit movies

      This statistic is very revealing and was a reflection on R.D.'s misfortunes as a music director. In fact, if one made a plot of box-office success vs. musical success, then LP's career graph would have a slope greater than 1 and RD's would have a negative slope. In 1975, R.D. produced the immortal Aandhi and a fantastic score for Dharam Karam, but both were flops. However, the all-time box-office blockbusters, Sholay and Deewar, were not among RD's greatest musical works (by his own admission, 4 of Sholay's songs were lifted from Western and Middle Eastern music). Since I collect music and have all of RD's scores, it was tragic to note that the last 26 RD scores were box-office failures (after Saagar in 1985). However, hats off to Vidhu Vinod Chopra for sticking by him through his roughest years.

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    3. Avinash,

      I apologize for this late response to your post more than a year ago. I just wanted to say that I finally found the time to check box-office statistics, and yes, you are right - RD Burman was one unfortunate music director! He gave so many hit songs for Kaka but did not have many hit movies! Thanks for pointing out this revealing statistic!

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  9. Really nice to get an insight of the legendery of Indian Cinema...You have portrait it very well and words / thoughts have been articulated well.....May god bless Kaka's soul....We will miss him in years to come.....

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  10. Brilliant! Thank you for telling me about your article on twitter. Such a wonderfully researched piece.
    Shalini

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  11. This is Fantastic....! Great effort...! Appreciate a lot.

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    1. Thanks very much! Do forward the link to those who might be interested, and take a look at the other articles here! You might enjoy the one on Dev Anand as well!

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  12. gr8 effort put in...commendable.

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    1. Thank you! Enjoy the other articles here as well while you are here; you might like the one on Dev saab.

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  13. There was one film directed by Danny Denzongpa, with Danny's girlfriend Kim in the lead. This was during the decline of the superstar.

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    1. Yes, I know. The movie is "Phir Wohi Raat," from 1980. Is there anything that warrants mentioning about this movie in particular?

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  14. Great, meticulous research and analysis. Could not stop reading till the very end. Accommpaying my Mom for movies like Aan Milo Sajna & Apna Desh is vivid in my memory. Was a fan for a brief time before Amitabh came on the scene. Even his later movies like Avtaar and Thodisi Bewafai had very good performances from Rajesh..nice family dramas.
    Must commend you on the research of the songs and listing them. Enjoyed...

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    1. Thank you! Take a look at my other articles on the blog. You might particularly enjoy the Dev Anand tribute as well. And the other articles - depending on your taste.

      Delete
  15. Great article in the style of scientific research paper. However, I would like to mention here that you have mentioned that our present superstar Amitabh Bachchan, which is literary wrong. Actually there is no superstar before or after Rajesh Khanna in true sense, however,as per trend, even if one can mention as present superstar, it should be three Khans and single Akshay Kumar (son-in-law of the Original Superstar). During Amitabh's time, also there were no single superstar except Rajesh Khanna.
    Secondly, you have presented various aspect of Kaka's career via graphs, but there should be one graph related to his performance calibre during 70s as well as 80s and 90s. Since the present media does not know anything about his career after 70s, it would be most befitting for the ignorant people.

    Thanks,

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    1. I understand your point of view - I think even Bachchan has said that there has been no one who has been a superstar of the magnitude of Rajesh Khanna. I use the term superstar for Amitabh because in the popular media that is how he is referred to even today. The fact that even now, he commands huge salaries for his performances, for his appearances in shows like Kaun banega, etc., are testimony to that. 3 Khans/Akki aren't superstars, in my opinion. SRK tried to host KBC for one year and look what the response was. AB's durability at the top is what gives him the label. But let's not make this a debate about Bachchan. This is about Kaka's glory and let's not take the spotlight elsewhere in the debate.

      As to your second point, I thought that was the moral of my Figures 1 and 5, which show how many movies Kaka did in the 80s and how many hit songs he had, which show that he was certainly still a force to reckon with - and not washed up, as most seem to think. Are you thinking of anything specific to be highlighted?

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  16. Read it...gr8 work done by Kumar ji The only correction I wanna make is Duniya me Logon ko' song that kaka performed in Apna Desh(1972) Block Buster was with Mumtaz and Not Helen....

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    1. Thank you, Atul, both for the compliment and for that correction! You are absolutely right and I have corrected the mistake!

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  17. Excellent job Dr Seshadri Kumar.
    I believe that there is a very big list of staunch followers of RK sahab. This article of yours shall be a excellent tribute to RK ji.
    Thanks once again.
    Rajkumar
    FB: raajkumar.Bhuromal.Munshaney
    Twitter: MUNSHANEY1968

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    Replies
    1. Thank you very much, Mr. Rajkumar! Please do forward the link to those who might enjoy!

      Delete
  18. This is a Wikipedia for Rajesh Khanna, or perhaps a Thesis for which you should be awarded a doctorate (I know..I know.. you already are a Doctor).

    You Sir, have done a splendid job of writing about Kaka. He shome like a meteor, nay a comet that burned bright, amazed us and equally extinguished when crashing down to earth.

    Thanks for tweeting this post to me.

    Ravi
    @jravichander

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    1. Thank you for your kind words! Appreciate them! And of course, you are welcome!

      Kumar

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  19. Dr.Avi has given a wrong year of releases and wrong information

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  20. Beautiful piece of article but very lengthy you have spoken on each and every aspect of Kaka's life whereas my blog "Rajesh khanna aur unka Deewanapan " http://t.co/VcxnTEGQ focuses only on his craze amongst his audience , so its specific to that topic only

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    1. It's like a private channel's information about kaka,premji...but kumar's info.is really like a search....

      Delete
  21. Great superstar ever.......good contribution..........great job

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  22. Great article, thorough. You missed to mention "Amardeep" which revived RK's career in 1979. The opening song "Koi na tere pehle bhi, na tere baad hogi.." was song ob KK in typical RK style. It's a great song.

    As a Nepali from Kathmandu, what I remember in the 70s and 80s was that only two movies passed the silver jubilee run in a single theater (Premnagar and Naseeb). Only two movies were simultaneously shown in two theaters (Hathi Mere Saathi and Naseeb). In my personal filmography, Premnagar has the distinction of being the most watched movie (16 times). I stopped watching Hindi movies after 1990, so my above observation is limited to that period.

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  23. Hi. Went through your analysis but there are mistakes which I feel you muast rectify by editing otherwsie make another artcile once again as certain facts you have got wrong.
    1)Khanna has done 180 films in 47 years from 1966-2012 before his death. Of them 163 are feature films as an actor and 17 short films. 2 more films - Jaanleva Black Blood and Riyasat would be released in 2013 , after his death to take his tally to 182 films.
    2)Record Holder of 73 Golden Jubilee Hits (which includes 48 Platinum Jubilee Hits) and 24 Silver Jubilee Hits from 1967-1991.
    3)Had eight hits in the year 1985 from the 11 films with him as the lead hero which were Hum Dono, Babu, Zamana, Masterji, Akhir Kyun, Insaaf Main Karoonga, Durgaa and Bewafai.
    4)81 of the 128 films with Khanna as the lead protagonist (of them 117 released and 11 unreleased) were critically acclaimed films with ratings above 4 stars out of 5 by film reviewers of various newspapers unanimously .
    5)Rajesh Khanna gave 97 box office hits in the period 1966-1991 of the 153 films he appeared in 1966-1991 period.
    6)Has 4 box-office super-hits opposite each of the heroines - Reena Roy, Padmini Kolhapuri, Sridevi and 5 hits each opposite Rekha and Jaya Prada and 3 hits with Nanda and 7 with Shabana Azmi.
    7)Rajesh Khanna personally considered his best performances were in Aradhana, Dushman, Anand, Amar Prem, Avishkar, Aap Ki Kasam, Ajanbee, Prem Nagar, Prem Kahani,Roti, Chhailla Babu, Chakravyuha, Amardeep, Red Rose, Kudrat, Dhanwan, Avtaar, Awaaz , Babu, Hum Dono and Adhikar. Among multi-star films he did, his favorites are Ashanti, Rajput, Maqsad, Dharm Aur Kanoon and Zamana.
    8)Rajesh Khanna had 11 double role films. The first film for which he began shooting was Raaz, where he had a double role. His other films where he had double role were Aradhana, Sachcha Jhuta , Kudrat , Dard, Dharm Aur Kanoon, Hum Dono, Humshakal, Mahachor , Mehbooba and Bhola Bhala .
    9)First Indian hero to do a double role in his debut film.
    10)Rajesh as lead hero had 2 hits each in the years 1967, 1973, 1989 and 1991, 5 hits each in years 1969, 1974 and 1983, 6 hits in 1970, 1982 and 1986, 7 in 1971 and 1984, 8 hits in 1972 and 1985, 1 in 1975, 1976, 1978, 1988 and 1990, 3 hits each in 1977, 1979 and 1987 , 4 hits each in 1980 and 1981. Rajesh had total of 97 box-office hits of 153 Hindi films from 1966-1991 and of the 128 films with Rajesh as lead hero 88 were box-office hits.
    11)Rajesh Khanna won All-India Critics Association (AICA) Best Actor Award for a record 7 times - for Anand(1971), Amar Prem(1972), Ajanabee(1974), Kudrat(1981), Avtaar(1983), Aaj Ka M.L.A. Ram Avtar(1984) and Amrit(1986).
    12)Rajesh Khanna was nominated for Best Actor award at Bengal Film Journalist Association for a record 25 times , which is the highest for any actor at this award function. Khanna was nominated for his performances in Ittefaq, Safar, Anand, Dushman, Bawarchi, Namak Haram, Avishkaar, Prem Nagar, Prem Kahani, Mehbooba, Anurodh, Chakravyuha, Amardeep, Aanchal, Kudrat, Dhanwan, Avtaar, Souten, Awaaz, Aaj Ka MLA Ram Avatar, Hum Dono, Babu, Amrit, Adhikar and Awam. He won it 4 times again most by any actor at BFJA awards - for Anand, Bawarchi, Namak Haram and Amrit.
    13)Rajesh Khanna started accepting unconventional roles right from his age of 24 in 1966 and even after getting Superstar status at age of 27 continued to do variety of roles as the hero till age of 50 in 1991. No other star in Hindi films other than Khanna have after acquiring success at young age accepted such under-hero unconventional roles, as others preferred to do romantic films or over the top characters and action films while being in age bracket of 27-45.Only other Hindi actors to do this was Ranbir Kapoor who began accepting unconventional roles from age of 27 in 2009 but Ranbir had kissing scenes even in Rocket Singh and Ranbir began to be called superstar only after Rajneeti and Sanjeev Kumar from age of 30. Other Indian actors who did this were Sivaji Ganesan, MGR and Kamal Hasan.

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  24. 14)94 films with Rajesh Khanna as the solo-lead hero released between 1966-1991.He had overtaken Dev Anand's tally of 90 solo hero films in 1987. By the time Rajesh last film Released in 2013, he had done 108 solo hero films though only 99 were released from 1966 till 2013(and others either unreleased or unfinished). His contemporaries Dharmendra had 86 solo hero films from 1960 till 2006, Jeetendra did 92 from 1965 till 1997, Shashi Kapoor did 64 solo hero films from 1961-1986, Vinod Khanna did 55 solo hero films from 1971-2007 and Amitabh had done only 42 solo hero films from 1971-2013.Rajesh Khanna's title as the hero with most title role was intact from 1987-2013 and is yet to be broken.
    15)Only Hindi actor with the highest number of films as the solo lead hero - 106 and lowest multi star movies - 22.
    16) Trio of RD-Kishore-Rajesh have worked in 32 filsm together and Rajesh-Rd worked from 1967-1996 for 40 films and Kishore-Rajesh worked from 1969-1991 in 91 films.
    17)Laxmikant Pyarelal worked with Rajesh in 26 films.
    18)(1999 interview Rajesh Khanna said) Difference between my pairing with Mumtaz and other heroines was that all the 8 films where we were paired together became platinum jubilee hits.As such I have 100% success ratio even opposite Jaya Prada with 5 hits, Nanda with 3 hits, Reena Roy with 4 hits, Padmini Kolhapuri with 4 hits, Sridevi with 4 hits and Shabana Azmi with whom I had 7 successful films but in their case some of the films I did with them were silver jubilees and few golden and few platinum jubilee hits.
    19)Khanna's favorite songs were sung by Kishore Kumar picturised on him are Kal Tak Main Akela Tha from Bhola Bhala, Joshe Jawani Tauba Re Tauba from Hum Dono, Bye Bye Miss Goodnight from Prem Nagar, Mere Sang Sang from Rajput, Chala Jata Hun from Mere Jeevan Saathi, Ek Ajnabee from Ajanbee, Main Babu Chailla from Chhialla Babu, Dil Kya Chahe from Oonche Log,Aisa Rangeen Sama from Aanchal, Ruk Meri Jaan from Bundalbaaz, Mere Diwanepan Ki from Mehboob Ki Mehendi, Zindagi K a Safar from Safar, Zindagi Ek Safar from Andaz, Zindagi Ke Safar from Aap Ki Kasam,2 solos from Mehbooba, 3 solos each from films Roti, Kati Patang, Amar Prem, Bhola Bhala and Jaanwar, 4 solos from Anurodh .
    20)Rajesh Khanna's favorite Kishore Lata Duets from his films are Kora Kagaz Tha from Aradhana, Acchha Toh Hum from Aan Milo Sajna, Chupke Se Dil De from Maryada, Kehdo Kehdo from Sachcha Jhuta, Kajra Lagake from Apna Desh, Karvatein Badalte from Aap Ki Kasam, Chal Dariya Mein and Prem Kahani Mein from Prem Kahani, Hum Dono from Ajanabee, Main Tumse Pyar Karti Hun from Mahachor, Hum Tum Tum Hum from Tyaag, Bas Meri Ja Bas from Aanchal, Sang Mere Nikle The Sajan from Phir Wohi Raat, Main Tere Pyar Me Pagal from Prem Bandhan, Chandni Raat Mein from Dil-E-Nadan, Shayad Meri Shaadi from Souten and Kuch Humko from Alag Alag.

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  25. 21)Rajesh Khanna's favorite Kishore Asha Duets from his films are Mera Chain Khoya Hua Hai from Joroo Ka Ghulam, Satra Baras KI Chokariya from Ajanbee, Tandi Hawaone Gorika from Prem Nagar, Yaar Dil Dar Mujhe Paisa from Chhailla Babu, Kore Kagaz Pe Likhwa Le from Tyaag, Pyar Ka Wada from Fiffty Fiffty, Mere Hosh Lelo from Bandish, Paise Ka Kajal from Aanchal, Kiski Sadayen from Redrose, Pyar Ka Dard Hai from Dard, Dil Se Dil Ki Baat Hogayi from Dharm Aur Qanoon , Zindagi Sau Baras Ki from Awaaz, Ek Baat Hai Humse from Zamana, Phool Jahan Wahan from Naya Kadam, Jab Tanhai Mein Do Badan from Masterji and Sunle Zameen Aasman from Hum Dono.
    23)Khanna was awarded Filmfare Special award in 1991 for having starred in 101 films as the solo lead hero and just 21 two hero films having appeared in 153 films in short span of 25 years. He announced in Filmfare awards in 1992 about his self imposed retirement as a hero.
    24)First ever Hindi Film Hero whose films ran for more than 50 weeks and some even 75 and 100 weeks across theaters even in non-Hindi speaking areas - 4 states of South India and north eastern Indian states and in other Asian countries in the period 1969-1987. No other Hindi star after him and before him has had their films running in southern and north eastern states this successfully.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Sir,
    1700 views you have received for this artcile. Thta proves how people like rajesh khanan and why no wrong information must be passed on. The reason for me sharing these info was to mainly correct the FEW mistakes appearing in your article. Truth is Rajesh had statistically speaking 35 Golden Jubilee hits even from 1979-1991 and had 18Silver JH from 1979-1991 and had 3 GJH in 76-78 and had 4 SJH from 1976-78.From 1966-1975 he had 35 GJH nad 2 SJH.
    2)The only difference between these period was from 1977 onwards cheap movies were huge hits - see coolie or desh premee or khoon pasina you will observe these were no were near any Rajesh Khanna's 81 critically acclaimed films!!! Since lower and below middle class people liked such films they were huge hits and fan frenzy which Rajesh had reduced after 1975....fan frenzy meaning dying for him etc. But Respect for Rajesh remained always so he was the higest paid Indian actor from 1970-87 and that was possible cause Producers and directors liked him anbd provided him different scripts.

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  27. Sir I have shared this infomration so that you can incorporate these details provided me in a new artcile and provide them in statistics format diagrams and graphs format..as you are expert in that.
    You may give credit to me but to help you out provide right information to blog readers and innumerable people searching info on Khanna - let me provdie you with more info - which were the platinum/golden/silver jub hits - http://www.imdb.com/list/1fBFy7fvoR8/ and name of 81 critically acclaimed films as Khanna as lead hero - http://www.imdb.com/list/62GNJoTe4as/

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  28. Enjoyed, this I came to your blog by accident. How to subscribe?

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  29. Hello based on your complete knowledge on Rajesh Khanna movies can you tell me when was the movie Doli released.As I am unsure if it was the first movie of Rajesh Khanna released in 1969 or in 1970

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  30. I just found this excellent blog. Its almost like finding a soulmate!
    Ironically I found this blog in the Bibliography of Yasser Usman's book: Rajesh the Untold Story- a book sponsored by Salim Khan and written to smesr Kaka's reputation in retaliation to the book by Gautam Chintamani: The Dark Star, where Gautam clearly blames Salim for blocking Kaka's career.
    I feel while Amitabh was more concerned with his craft he became the vehicle for Kaka retribution by both Salim and Jaya. Yes, Jaya, who co produced Abhiman to keep Kaka out of a tailor made role and out of Hrishida's camp. Again Jaya ghost produces Kora Kagaz and releases it pretty close to Aap ki Kasam which had the same theme!
    Kaka inspired an industry of people to work hard against him.

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