Rajesh Khanna is the bona fide superstar of Indian cinema. At the peak of his career, he made many superhit and blockbuster movies. His stardom was unimaginable, and a journalist once described it. Keep scrolling for more.
Khanna redefined the romance genre in the Hindi film industry. Bollywood is defined by different eras; his era was romance, great songs, and superb dialogues. Female fans went crazy over him, sending marriage proposals and everything. His on-screen charisma and Kishore Kumar’s soulful voice created magic together. People often spoke and wrote about his immense stardom in tabloids and videos. A BBC journalist also talked about his stardom and shared interesting details.
A BBC Journalist Once Compared Rajesh Khanna to Napoleon
According to the Bollywood Shadis report, several years ago, Jack Pizzey, a BBC journalist, documented Rajesh Khanna’s life, and the documentary is called Bombay Superstar. The documentary covered them all, from his relationship with Dimple Kapadia to his work life and even his downfall. Pizzey claimed veteran filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee rewrote dialogues while waiting for Kaka on the sets.
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He said, “The biggest star should be arriving at this studio. The superstar is Rajesh Khanna. He has the charisma of Rudolph Valentino, the arrogance of Napoleon, and he’s late. There’s nothing the director can do about it. He rewrites, yet again, the lines that his star should be speaking by now. He sweats and waits. Everyone is sweating and getting ready, and waiting.”
The BBC journalist continued, “The star lives in an impregnable dreamhouse. Getting in to interview Rajesh is like trying to get an audience with royalty. Only if a king says, ‘Come to my palace at 3’, he probably means it.” Jack reportedly tried interviewing Kaka and wound up in his house, only to be turned away from the gates.
Jack shared how he had once waited five days for Rajesh Khanna, an experience that eventually humbled him. He also recalled accompanying the star to a shoot in Kashmir, where Khanna kept the crew waiting even longer. In addition, the veteran actor reportedly became restless over the failure of his last five films.
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