Rajesh Khanna's Aashirwaad: A Symbol of Superstardom

When Rajesh Khanna was at the height of his stratospheric superstardom, excursion buses had a stop at Aashirwaad, his iconic bungalow that he had purchased from Rajendra Kumar, and crowds used to throng Carter Road at all hours. Khanna, knowing full well the part music played in the success of his films after Aradhana and Do raaste, insisted two things in his contracts:

1. He would retain overall approval rights for the songs selected
2. He would have Kishore as his voice for all songs involving him

Haathi Mere Saathi: Rajesh Khanna's Career Milestone and Its Impact

His first film with a South Indian banner was Devar Films’ Haathi Mere Saathi (1971), directed by M A Thirumugam, who had made a mark in Tamil with super hits involving MGR.  This movie went on to become the biggest hit and the highest-grossing film of 1971, and a huge turning point in the careers of Salim-Javed (writers), Laxmikant-Pyarelal, the music directors, Tanuja and Khanna himself.  It was based on a Tamil movie, Deiva Cheyal, and Javed Akhtar on being questioned as to how the film came about, said "One day, Rajesh Khanna went to Salimsaab and said that Mr. Devar had given him a huge signing amount with which he could complete the payment for his bungalow Aashirwad. But the film was a remake [of Deiva Cheyal] and the script of the original was far from being satisfactory. He told us that if we could set right the script, he would make sure we got both money and credit. "I can't do such a terrible script," he said. "And I can't leave it because I need the money!

Behind the Hits: Kishore Kumar & Mohammed Rafi's Song Story

The music of the film was a blockbuster, with songs like Chal, Chal, Chal mere Saathi, Sun Ja Ae Thandi Hawa, Dilbar Jaani, Chali Hawa Mastaani, and Duniya Mein Rehna Hai To ruling the airwaves.  All songs were sung by Kishore Kumar except Nafrat Ki Duniya Ko Chhod Ke which was sung by Mohammed Rafi.  As was his wont, Khanna had the contract which had Kishore singing all his songs, and LP had called Kishore first for rehearsals for this song as well.  Kishori heard the tune and told LP that Rafisaab would be the ideal person to sing this song!  When the subject of the contract was raised, Kishore said that he would have a word with Kaka and that nothing would stop Rafi from singing this song.  And that is how, in the middle of his golden period, Khanna had the sense to allow this particular song to be recorded in the voice of Mohammed Rafi

By B.B.Nagpal

Read also:

• 71st annual meeting of CMA
• Adarsh Gourav on Teaming with Ridley Scott for Alien Series
  
• It's a Wrap for Do Dooni 4 Films- Shravani on Shemaroo Umang TV
• Kanwar Dhillon & Neha Harsora's Unique Style in 'Udne Ki Asha'
• DIVINE & Karan Aujla's 'Street Dreams' Album Breaks Records