Mumbai, July 18
Bollywood’s original superstar Rajesh Khanna, who charmed his way into the hearts of millions of swooning women, died in Mumbai on Wednesday after a prolonged illness. The 69-year-old actor, who shot to superstardom with the 1969 hit ‘Aradhana’ opposite Sharmila Tagore, passed away at his Bandra home, two days after being discharged from Lilavati hospital. He had been ailing since April last year. The funeral will take place on Thursday.

The legend’s death was announced by his actor-son-in-law Akshay Kumar. “My father-in-law Rajesh Khanna is no more with us. He has gone to a nice and heavenly place. I am happy that he has gone there and hope that everyone will pray for him,” Akshay told mediapersons outside Khanna’s bungalow, ‘Ashirwad’. He did not give details of the actor’s ailment, but reports said Khanna had cancer. 

Fondly known as Kaka, Khanna’s condition deteriorated on Wednesday morning and doctors were rushed to his residence. He passed away in the afternoon, surrounded by his estranged wife Dimple, daughters Twinkle and Rinke, Akshay Kumar and relatives.

Billed as Bollywood's first superstar for delivering 15 hits in a row from 1969 to 1971, Rajesh Khanna epitomised a range of emotions on the big screen -- from melancholy to romance -- with a rich bouquet of lilting songs like 'Zindagi ek safar hai suhana' and 'Mere sapno ki raani' making his movies and characters immortal.

The actor's mannerism, his unique style of dancing, dialogue delivery, disarming smile and the signature nod of his head added to his onscreen persona that made many a woman's heart skip a beat.

His memorable films include ‘Raaz’, ‘Baharon Ke Sapne’, ‘Ittefaq’ and ‘Anand’. In the last, Khanna shared screen space with Amitabh Bachchan, who went on to dethrone him from the top spot.

In his later years, Khanna took up film production. He also had a brush with politics after he stopped acting and won the Lok Sabha seat from New Delhi constituency in 1991. He was last seen in a TV commercial for Havell's fans, which was essentially a tribute to his time in the sun.

Born Jatin Khanna on December 29, 1942 in Amritsar, he was adopted and raised by foster parents. He got interested in acting while in school and performed in a number of plays. His uncle changed Khanna's first name to Rajesh when he decided to join films.

In 1965, he won a talent contest organised by United Producers and Filmfare and debuted the next year in ‘Aakhri Khat’. A shell-shocked Bollywood mourned the death of Rajesh Khanna, hailing him as the “King of Romance”, “powerhouse” and “giant” of the Hindi film industry whose “magic” will live on forever through his memorable films, dialogues and songs. Several celebrities turned up at the actor's residence while hundreds of teary-eyed fans gathered outside. The country's political leaders, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also condoled the superstar’s passing away. 

Rajesh Khanna was spotted by Chetan Anand playing the role of ‘gunga sipahi’ in 'Andhayug,' directed by late Pt Satyadev Dubey in 1963. Anand gave him the lead role for 'Aakhri Khat.' And the rest is history.