Birthday Special - Rajesh Khanna - A Man Who Always Believed 'Zindagi Badi Honi Chahiye'

Ali Peter John

I will not be exaggerating in the least if I say that I have never seen a man like Rajesh Khanna who lived the kind of life no other human being must have lived , even if he was the richest man in the world or all the sheikhs and sultans, even the Sultan of Brunei put together. Which Sultan would have risen from an unknown house called Khanna House(belonging to his uncle who had adopted him and brought him up) and start his career in theatre and then go on to be one of the greatest ever superstars(I hope all the other stars and superstars who were witness to his rise will agree with me?). Which other star, including Amitabh Bachchan would have girls waiting outside his bungalow only to have one little glimpse of him or even to see the cars in which he travelled? Which other star would have trucks full of girls and women traveling from studio to studio and location to location only to have a darshan of the man who had transformed himself or had been transformed by circumstances to be a god – like phenomenon on earth? Which other star including the greatest ones would have girls kissing his cars when they knew that it was difficult to kiss this god? Which other star would have girls writing love letters to him in their own blood with certificates issued by the best of doctors who certified that the letters were indeed written by the girls in their own blood? Which other star would have female fans who would place his photographs under their pillows in the hope that he would appear to them in their dreams? Which other stars would have girls willing to commit suicide if they were not lucky to see his new films at the first show on the first Friday of the release of one of his new starrers?

And then which other star would see his own way(safar) to his fall which was a fall that has been and will always be a lesson for all stars and superstars to come? Which star would have made the kind of blunders and mistakes he made? Which other star would have firmly believed that he was god and who was so shocked when he saw an almost unknown and unlikely actor come in after giving a dozen flops and create such misery for him that he had to go up to the terrace of his famous bungalow, “Aashirwad” and cry out to the God above and ask, “why me , oh God”? Which other star would have had a disturbed domestic life when his gorgeous wife , Dimple Kapadia walked out of his house with his daughters ? Which other star would have taken to heavy drinking which was a slow but sure step to the end? Which other star would cling to his stardom when he had lost all of it completely? Which other star would have found refuge in politics for which he was not fit and even had his speeches spiced with poetry written by his friend Anand Bakshi which he repeated at every meeting and made himself a boring politician and was finally forced out of politics? Which other star would drive into his office in a Maruti 800 and sometimes borrow a Mercedez from a smuggler friend when he was still invited to some occasions and events? Which other star would neglect his health till a time came when he had no one to look after him and he was diagnosed with cancer or the liver which finally claimed his unusual life and his safar of suffering came to an end. There is a lot of talk about his funeral which was like it was for no other star, but the cynics still say that the funeral was grand because he had a grand star as his son- in- law. But I as a close and almost devoted follower from the time he did films like “Raaz” , “ Aakhiri Khat” and “ Baharo ke Sapne” when people called him “ wo gorka hero” am fully confident that Rajesh Khanna was whatever he was from the beginning to the end was all because he was Rajesh Khanna….

I am aware of my obsession with the man who I still believe was the greatest superstar(I started wearing a kurta because he had made it a fashion, but I bought kurtas from the Khadi Bhandar because they were available for only ten rupees , I was in tears when during his last days he invited me to his office on Linking Road and we , Just the two of us drank till mid night and even later and when he realized that I was too drunk , he made it a point to feed me with his own hands, the same hands which filmmakers loved to make the best use of in their films because there were women of all ages who were ever willing to even die to touch or kiss those hands in which they saw a miraculous touch and then made sure that his only faithful man till the very end of his safar, Bala dropped me home even if it was 2:00 am or 5:00 am. When will I or anyone of my generation have a chance to be a part of the safar of Kakaji who was and will be Rajesh Khanna as long as films are made in this industry known as the maker of the largest number of films?

Talking about Rajesh Khanna’s safar , I had a rare experience last night when I was watching some old songs(because there are no songs but only a lot of noise in the name of music) and by such strange coincidence I heard four songs of some of Rajesh Khanna’s best films and all the songs talked about zindagi and safar.

It all started with the now immortal song from “Anand” which went as “Zindagi kaisi hai Paheli” , a song so simply written , more simply picturized by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Rajesh Khanna stealing the entire song and scene from the new comer Amitabh Bachchan and Sumita Sanyal an actress from Bengal who incidentally died last month.

The second song was from a film called “Safar” with Rajesh Khanna singing about his impending death by cancer with Sharmila Tagore being a silent listener to the song which was to affect her life in a big way

The third song was from Ramesh Sippy’s “Andaaz” in which he sings about zindagi and safar in a light hearted way with Hema Malini riding pillion and the song is full of life and its taking on every challenge , but the way the song goes and finally reaches its end, it becomes so clear that the hero, Rajesh Khanna is going to meet with a disastrous death …

I think the most meaningful song I heard that evening was the song , Zindagi ke safar mein jo guzar jaate hai mukaam wo phir nahi aate, written by Anand Bakshi who was never considered a great poet and composed by Laxmikant – Pyarelal who were the composers of the common man. The song would have been any other ordinary song but the way it was picturized on Rajesh Khanna during the various phases of his life , from a rich and romantic man to a beggar waiting for someone to put some food in his trembling hands outside a crowded temple. It was the most pathetic scene picturized on the superstar which was almost like a warning to him of the days to come for him because of his arrogance and ego which were his worst enemies.

That night I had to bring back all the millions of memories of Kakaji and before going to sleep , I remembered the days when I was in college and was a die-hard- fan of the new super star. The girl I firmly loved, Molly asked me to get her an autograph of Rajesh Khanna and I couldn’t because “meri auqaat hi kya thi Rajesh Khanna tak pahunchne ki and I returned home a heart- broken young man with the intension never to forget this insult in my life. Years later , he was on a slide down and I found my chance to give him a piece of my mind. I had a couple of drinks at King’s Country Liquor Bar and faced him. I told him about how I had lost face very badly because of his popularity. He sympathized with me and said he was willing to make amends and said he was willing to go with me to wherever the girl(Molly) was , but I told him it was of no use as she had become a Nun and I don’t know why he said, “Ye Zindagi koi Zindagi hai, yahan par to hum sab Zindagi aur maut ke bich fanse hue kathputliaan hai, kya mila, kya milnewala hai kisi ko kya ghanta maalum hai aur hum bade bade Rajesh Khanna bane hue firte hai jabtak zindagi aur maut ka khel khatam nahi hota”.

That night was the first of many more nights when we exchanged stories about the safars of our lives till it all ended for the greatest superstar at 1:40 in the afternoon and the greatest superstar was brought down in a worn out blanket. The safars of life are too difficult for us ordinary mortals to understand. Yahan kab kaun kaise safar se gujzrega kisi bhi bewkoof ko kuch pata nahi aur apne aap ko mahan aur Bhagwaan bhi samajhte hai, ye saale bewkoof insaan”..

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