Book Review: Dark star – the loneliness of being Rajesh Khanna

Cinephiles from various eras and geographies use the term “superstar” to describe different people. The term has been used to describe many people in Indian cinema from KL Saigal, Ashok Kumar, Dev Anand, Rajnikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, NT Rama Rao, Kamal Hasan, Mohanlal, Shah Rukh Khan … the list goes on. What makes Rajesh Khanna unique is that his movie hits started in 1969 and went on till 1971-72. In those 3-4 years, Khanna appeared in about 17 films and all of them were successful.So what defines a superstar? Is it longevity and a body of work? Amitabh Bachchan has been a part of almost 200 films since 1969. Rajnikanth has done more than 175 films since 1975. Kamal Hasan has been around since 1960 and done a similar number of films. Maybe there is more.Bollywood legends are created with unforgettable songs. Many stars are careful not to do “negative roles”. Rajesh Khanna (born Jatin Khanna) was an exception. He made love to the heroine without being married in Aradhana (1969) and even slapped a woman in Do Raaste (1969). In Aakhri Khat he has a child out of wedlock & that was in 1966. He fell in love with a widow in Kati Patang (1970). He was the first Hindi actor whose films ran to packed houses and had golden jubilee hits in non-Hindi speaking areas. So what went wrong after the dream run for Rajesh Khanna ended in 1972?Rajesh Khanna films gave us some great music. Dark Hero chooses this song that brought together RD Burman, Anand Bakshi, Kishore Kumar, Sharmila Tagore, Rajesh Khanna and the magic of Shakti Samanta. The song was Chingari Koi Bhadke, a song that Anand Bakshi wrote when he saw a matchstick getting extinguished by the drop of rain.http://youtu.be/kpM0jPd6-7wGautam Chintamani’s book ‘Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna’ explores the man that Rajesh Khanna was. At the peak of his success, Kaka as he was affectionately called, surrounded himself with sycophants who would join him on his all night drinking binges and continuously praise the star who came to believe that he was God on earth. “Upar Aka, Neeche Kaka” was the reigning mood in his parties.Rajesh Khanna was generous about spending and collecting money. He would often delay collecting his fee so that producers could release his films. Women married his photos and when he married Dimple, scores of women wore white to declare themselves widowed. He loved feeding people but would keep them waiting for hours before serving them. His coming late for shoots strained his relationship with his co-stars and producers who were forced to work late hours.BBC’s description of him as having the “charisma of Rudolph Valentino and the arrogance of Napoleon” is probably the pithiest summary of why Rajesh Khanna could not handle success. The film makers said that they “never found him honest for a single moment”. His relationship with Salim-Javed got strained when they were paid a mere Rs10,000 for Haathi Mere Saathi –a film for which Rajesh Khanna got five lakhs in 1971.Dark Star is a lovely read into the psyche of the lonely superstar who refused to reinvent himself the way Amitabh did. He refused to change his mannerisms and continued to be delusional that the fans would come back. They never did.For four decades a man who experienced the giddy heights of stardom, had to get used to seeing Amitabh Bachchan continue to dominate the industry – a man he had treated with contempt and jibes when Rajesh Khanna was riding high. Kaka lived for four decades as a has-been. For someone who had shunned ads (except for an appearance made for Bombay Dyeing), Rajesh Khanna last appeared in an ad for Havell fans. His last lines ironically were, “Mere fans mujhse koi nahi cheen sakta” (Nobody can take my fans away from me). This line will remain the last line on celluloid of a man who spent his time waiting for his fans to shower the attention and hysteria that he generated four decades ago. Just the way he kept producers, journalists, co-stars and fans waiting for hours when he was at the peak of his fame.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW0LZ3zoOksAt which point in your career do you think Rajesh Khanna should have reinvented himself? Leave your comments below.—————-Why did Rajesh Khanna become a superstarJoin me on twitter @AbhijitBhaduri