“Rajesh Khanna Aka God Had Arrived, Everyone Wanted To Touch Him” – When The Superstar Created A Frenzy At The Premiere Of Do Raaste!

Rajesh Khanna is often hailed as the first superstar of Hindi cinema. He was fondly referred to as ‘Kaka’ and enjoyed a massive fan following amongst his female fans. Such was his popularity that he had once caused a frenzy and almost a mob-like situation at the premiere of his 1969 film, Do Raaste wherein he was seen opposite Mumtaz.

According to Bollywood Shaadi, a fan page dedicated to Rajesh Khanna called ‘Rajesh Khanna- The King Of Superstardom’ shared an interview of veteran actor Govardhan Asrani wherein he recalled the euphoria that Khanna had caused in the premiere of Do Raaste. Asrani recalled how all the 8 producers of the United Producers Council namely Raj Khosla, J Om Prakash, FC Mehra, Mohan Sehgal, Nasir Hussain, Shakti Samanta, Pramod Chakravarthy and Hemant Kumar were all geared up to welcome the megastar. But it was the way, the Amar Prem actor entered the scene which left everyone including Asrani spellbound.

The report stated that Asrani revealed to a media portal, “There were swelling crowds outside and a full house inside. There was pandemonium when he arrived. As though God had arrived. The suited filmmakers were pushed aside. The crowds from the streets barged into the theatre.”