RIP: Rajesh Khanna

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For the generation who has grown on Rajesh Khanna, this must be the saddest moment and day of his life. The first true Super Star of India, passes away a tad and uncharacteristic of him. Unfortunate and unedifying.

The legacy of a man, who has left a repertoire of work like Aradhana, Amar Prem, Anand, Kati Patang... the list is endless. Each film epitomises his status as the true romantic hero. He best epitomises what cinema stood for. "Sheer entertainment".

He was also a man of contrast. He died a lonely death and a very lonely death. Indeed for a man, whose fans lined up for him, kissed his car, wrote letters in blood, tore his shirt, this must have been a lonely death. As we all come together on this saddened day, are fans so merciless or ruthless or deceptive? Then why does Rajesh Khanna say, "Babumoshai, Mere fans mujhse koi chin nahin sakta".

That is the irony of the situation or probably an oxymoron!

Khanna's body of work spoke about Khanna and we all could not differentiate the real and reel Khanna. When the same Rajesh Khanna started giving duds after duds, the fans felt cheated and when he married Dimple Kapadia at the height of his career, they felt "dumped". Around him, a tall lanky man, with whom he shared screen space in Namak Haram and Anand, was coming up fast and furious. In Namak Haram, Amitabh's author backed role somehow seemed to outshine the more staid and genteel appeal of Khanna. And in Anand the last scene where Babumoshai has to cry, Amitabh seemed to be crawling in.

The times were changing and the audience seemed to like the rebellious and angry Amitabh more than the romantic Rajesh in the late 70's.

Rajesh Khann's personal coterie of sycophants, nincompoops and flatterers deserted him at a time when he needed sound advice and sound people around him. With stardom came ego and with ego his downfall. A fact Rajesh Khanna could never come to terms with. In the 80's there was a meek attempt with a few releases like Avtar with Shabana Azmi, but it was not sustainable. Avtar, reinforced Rajesh's authenticity and stuff that he was made of. But that was the golden era of Amitabh and anything he touched was Gold.

There is the usual debate of who is better or who is more talented. To me, it is foolhardy to compare the two as their genres are completely different and they never crossed path. Still, there is always a hint of Amitabh having a wider portfolio and range. I think attitude matters more than talent.

During his heydays there is a saying that curd (of a specific type) used to come from a particular shop in Mumbai wherever in India, was he shooting. There will be and there can be many stories around him. Some of his arrogance, some of his brashness and some of his simpleton self. I am surprised, why did he never thought of writing a memorabilia. We were dying to read more on him and about him. Look at the current star brigade! Ten films and you have “Still Reading Khan”, sic!

There was so much to Kaka’s legacy and his body of work, as film aficionados we wanted a larger pie of him. There are the occasional stories from his co-stars (read the fascinating blog of Mr. Bachchan and his tips from Mehmood Bhai on doing the death scene with Rajesh Khanna! Fascinating), but they leave you asking for more, from a man who has seen it all.

A decade and a phase comes to an end (or probably we have embarked on a new journey), but “Mere fans mujhse koi chin nahi sakta, True! Count me in”. RIP Kaka!

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