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Even after four decades, no actor has been able to match the appeal of THE charisma of Rajesh Khanna, who was recently honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at IIFA, in China lies in the fact that he imbued majesty to mediocrity. His ordinary physique, average looks and non-heroic visage brought to fore the loveable boy-next-door.
While actors spend years and do films before that one elusive hit that launches them to stardom, in case of Rajesh Khanna success came in only with his fourth film — Aradhana (1969). As Arun driving an open-jeep, serenading Vandana (Sharmila Tagore) to the strains of ‘Mere sapno ki rani kab aayegee tu...’ through the winding routes of a hill train in Darjeeling, he became an instant favourite. Also in the film, Rajesh Khanna made pre-marital sex permissible for the first time on the screen in an age of conventions and conformism. Aradhana catapulted him to glory and made him the first superstar of the Bollywood. His Do Raaste was released within weeks of Aradhana and he was established as a major star with both the films celebrating a silver jubilee. After this, there was no looking back for Khanna who became a phenomenon. In Anand(1970), Rajesh Khanna delivered a stunning performance in the role of Anand, a cancer patient who smiled and laughed in the face of death and surrendered to it cheerfully. Rarely has a fictional character affected the viewers so much as Anand. At the end of the film, a tape recorder plays Anand’s last message. Such was the impact Khanna made through the film that his voice alone evokes the power of his presence now gone. Khanna demonstrated his sensitivity as an actor with a touching performance as a mental patient in Khamoshi. In Amar Prem, he brought to life an existential dilemma in a way seldom seen on the screen. He lent a raw vulnerability to the role of a suspected killer on the run from a mental home in Itefaq. The loquacious lover of Aradhana and Andaz, who swept the heroine off her feet with his charm and simplicity, acquired a serious countenance in Aap Ki Kasam and Safar. In Aap Ki Kasam, it was a marriage soured by suspicion. Khanna slipped into the soul of the character so unobtrusively that the audience felt it was a chunk from his real life. In Dushman(1971), Khanna played a truck driver, who accidentally kills a man. Sentenced to look after the family that had lost its sole breadwinner, he tracks the real villains. Khanna put his heart and soul into the role. He is compelling to watch as Sonu in Namak Haram (1973). He gave an intelligent and understated performance of a thoughtful man looking for a deeper meaning in life. Vikram (Amitabh Bachchan) played a capitalist while Sonu, who plays a worker, is his friend. A crisis in Vikram’s life forces them to enact new roles that lead to a conflict in their ideology. In the given situation, Sonu prefers death to disloyalty and betrayal. Khanna’s portrayal of a man who faces crisis of conscience was mind-boggling. Film critics had no benchmarks against which to measure the magnitude of Khanna’s success, and the kind of adulation that came his way. The hysteria he created with his crinkling eyes and lily-white smile drove fans into raptures. More than four decades after Aradhana and many other blockbusters, there has never been anyone to rival the appeal of Rajesh Khanna in his heyday.
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Rajesh
Khanna’s claim to greatness lies in the strength of his performance
in limited number of films.