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Rajesh Khanna - The Superstar

Discussion in 'Snippets of Life (Non-Fiction)' started by rvnachar, Jul 21, 2012.

  1. rvnachar

    rvnachar Silver IL'ite

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    Rajesh Khanna – the Super Hero
    All of us pass through the most wonderful stage of life, the spring, the golden phase – the ever haunting youth. Right from teenage, life seems to be only colourful, glamourous, joyful, romantic and full of hopes until we enter late 20s. Everybody has the most memorable experiences that can be relished and relived throughout the life only during this period. There are any number of stories of love – successful or failed, written in all languages of the planet. One never gets tired of reading these stories however old one may get. Stories of lost lovers finding their old flames in their middle or old age are all the more interesting and romantic.
    Cinema plays a very important part in one’s life, especially during youth, when the mind enjoys fantasizing about life. Cinemas that struck us more are unforgettable. Rajesh Khanna was the super star during my youth. In those days, we children were not allowed to see too many movies. My parents enjoyed only Tamil movies and sometimes took us along. When some of my friends used to discuss about Hindi movies and heroes and heroines who acted in them, I used to be awed. Aradhana was released and every young girl and boy was raving about the movie. I wanted to see it and begged my parents to take me to that movie. Just then my aunt and uncle arrived from Belgaum and they told my father, ‘no way. That is not a movie for children.’ That’s it. My father refused to take me.
    I was preparing for my SSLC exams and I came to know that Aradhana was going to be played in the club of our township. We lived in a township away from the city and movies were real rare events for everybody. Thus the entire colony rushed to the club. My parents expected me to sit back and prepare for my exams. No way! I put my foot down and ran along with them. That was my first Hindi movie and I was really touched by the action of Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore. The songs were haunting and everything about the movie was so memorable. Why did my aunt and uncle ban this movie for children? ‘Roop thera mastaana, pyar mera deewana’ was the cause!! Imagine the kind of sex and violence being fed to today’s kids!!
    Anyway, I found solutions to why some of my classmates (who were 4-5 years older than I was, thanks to their grit of repeating many classes) were so crazy of Rajesh Khanna and preserving cutouts of his in their text books! One of my teachers caught them red-handed and shouted, ‘you people have reached marriageable age. That is the problem. Go ask your parents to get you married. I don’t see you passing out of school in the near future’.
    The next movie of Rajesh Khanna that I saw was Haathi Mere Saathi. I could somehow convince my parents to take me to this movie, because it was all about elephants. When I was in college, I got to see Kati Patang and Anand. I consider Anand as Rajesh Khanna’s master piece. I can never forget how much I cried in this movie. His last dialogue beginning with, ‘Babu Moshai’ keeps haunting me even today. Those days, cancer was known less and this movie made a hitting impact from many angles.
    Another movie which I do not mind seeing even today is Amar Prem. ‘Pushpa, I hate tears’, became such a popular dialogue. The decent and soft romance shown in this movie is remarkable. There is not a single obscene or vulgar scene, though the story is about a courtesan and her lover. And what to say about the songs of Rajesh Khanna starrers! Every song was a hit and is sung even by today’s youth. I bet even today’s children and youth will definitely fall for these songs, though they may not like to view those movies. ‘Ye kya hua, kaise hua’, ‘jeevan se bari theri anken’, ‘kora kagaz thaa ye man mera’, ‘zindagi, kaisi hai paheli hai’, ‘Chingari’ and so many more! Who would not be prompted to hum those melodies which were spun of beautiful lyrics and decorated with soul-touching music by great lyricists and composers!
    Rajesh Khanna indeed was the fast super star of India and my first super star. His demise brought sorrow to me, as I felt the curtains have started falling down on an entire era to which I belong. I was transported back to the sixties and seventies of the twentieth century, when both Rajesh Khanna and I passed through a golden phase!
    Sudha Narasimhachar
     
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  2. InnerBliss

    InnerBliss Gold IL'ite

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    I did also experience the same with the news of his, Parveen Babi, Shammi Kapoor and Dev Anand's demise. You have given the accurate words as the description of that feeling. Thank you.

    I enjoyed reading about the culture in which you were brought up and the summary of Rajesh Khanna's successful story.

    Thanks for that too.

    Keep sharing :)
    Anuradha
     

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