Rajesh Khanna

Lore & Background

Rajesh Khanna was born on 29 December 1942 in Amritsar, Punjab Province of British India, as Jatin Khanna into a Punjabi Hindu Khatri family. He was adopted and raised by relatives Chunnilal Khanna and Leelawati Khanna. His biological parents were Lala Hiranand Khanna and Chandrani Khanna. He attended St. Sebastian's Goan High School with friend Ravi Kapoor (later Jeetendra) and developed an interest in theatre. In 1962 he played a wounded mute soldier in the play Andha Yug, impressing the chief guest who suggested he enter films. He studied at Nowrosjee Wadia College in Pune and later at Kishinchand Chellaram College, Mumbai. His uncle KK Talwar changed his first name to Rajesh when he decided to enter films. Friends and his wife called him Kaka.

Reader's Guide

Rajesh Khanna's significance lies in his unprecedented box-office dominance and his status as the first Superstar of Hindi cinema. His rise began in 1969 with the romantic musical Aradhana and the family drama Do Raaste, which turned him into an overnight sensation. He then delivered 17 consecutive successes over three years, a record that remains unbroken. His career included iconic films such as Anand, for which he won his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor, and Sachaa Jhutha, for which he won his first. He also served as a Member of Parliament in the 10th Lok Sabha from New Delhi between 1992 and 1996 as an Indian National Congress candidate. In 2005 he received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2013 he was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan. His legacy endures as a benchmark for stardom in Indian cinema.

Did You Know?

• Rajesh Khanna made his acting debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat, which was India's first official Academy Awards entry in 1967.
• He won the 1965 All India Talent Contest, beating over 10,000 contestants, and was one of eight finalists.
• His older daughter Twinkle Khanna is a former actress married to actor Akshay Kumar.

Theatrical Roots and a New Identity

Rajesh Khanna entered the world on 29 December 1942 in Amritsar, in the Punjab Province of British India, under the name Jatin Khanna. Born into a Punjabi Hindu Khatri family, he was raised by his relatives Chunnilal and Leelawati Khanna, a family of railway contractors who had relocated from Lahore to Bombay in 1935, rather than by his biological parents—Lala Hiranand Khanna, a school headmaster, and Chandrani Khanna. Growing up near Girgaon in Mumbai, young Jatin found his true calling on the stage. At St. Sebastian's Goan High School, where he studied alongside a classmate who would later become actor Jeetendra, he threw himself into school and college theatre, collecting prizes in inter-college drama competitions. A pivotal moment arrived in 1962 when he portrayed a wounded, mute soldier in the play Andha Yug; the chief guest at the performance urged him to pursue cinema. After studying at Nowrosjee Wadia College in Pune and later Kishinchand Chellaram College in Mumbai, he made the leap to films. His uncle KK Talwar suggested the stage name Rajesh, while those closest to him—friends and eventually his wife—simply called him Kaka, a Punjabi term of endearment for a young, baby-faced boy.

From Talent Contest to an Unbreakable Streak

Khanna's path to the screen began with the 1965 All India Talent Contest, organized by United Producers and Filmfare, where he was one of eight finalists drawn from more than ten thousand contestants. He edged out the competition by a single point, sharing the win with Farida Jalal, while the judging panel included luminaries such as Bimal Roy, G.P. Sippy, and Nasir Hussain. His predetermined prize included a role in Aakhri Khat (1966), directed by Chetan Anand, which would go on to become India's first official Academy Awards entry in 1967. Yet it was 1969 that transformed him from a promising newcomer into a cultural phenomenon. Shakti Samanta's romantic musical Aradhana, co-starring Sharmila Tagore, became a massive blockbuster and made him an overnight sensation; its soundtrack, composed by S.D. Burman with lyrics by Anand Bakshi, ranked as the third best-selling Hindi film album of the 1960s. That same year, Raj Khosla's Do Raaste, opposite Mumtaz, became the first Indian film to gross one hundred thousand pounds in the United Kingdom. The momentum never faltered: across 1969, 1970, and 1971, Khanna delivered seventeen consecutive box-office successes—a record that remains unbroken to this day—sparking what the press dubbed 'Rajesh Khanna Mania.'

Honors and a Lasting Legacy

Rajesh Khanna's place in Indian cinema history is singular. He is widely regarded as the first true Superstar of Hindi films, a designation that captures not only his extraordinary box-office draw but also the cultural phenomenon his name came to represent. Over the course of his career he collected five Filmfare Awards, and in 2005, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Filmfare Awards ceremony, he was presented with the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award—a recognition of his sustained impact on the industry. His contributions were further acknowledged at the national level: in 2013, one year after his death, the Government of India posthumously conferred upon him the Padma Bhushan, the country's third-highest civilian honour. Beyond individual accolades, his record of seventeen consecutive commercial successes over three years stands as an unbroken benchmark in Hindi cinema. Whether through the romantic musicals that defined an era or the dramatic roles that showcased his range, Khanna reshaped what audiences expected from a leading man and set a template that subsequent generations of stars would measure themselves against.

Personal Life, Public Service, and Farewell

Off the screen, Khanna's life was marked by both personal joy and public engagement. In March 1973, he married actress Dimple Kapadia, a union that came just eight months before her debut film Bobby hit theatres. The couple had two daughters: Twinkle Khanna, a former actress who later married actor Akshay Kumar, and Rinke Khanna, who also pursued acting before stepping away from the industry. Khanna's public life extended beyond cinema into politics; he was elected as an Indian National Congress candidate in the 1992 New Delhi by-election and served as a Member of Parliament in the 10th Lok Sabha from the New Delhi constituency until 1996. He also worked as a film producer during his career. After a period of illness, Rajesh Khanna passed away on 18 July 2012, leaving behind a legacy that continues to define the golden age of Hindi cinema and the very concept of stardom in Indian popular culture.

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