Rajesh Khanna

Rajesh Khanna

Rajesh Khanna (29 December 1942 – 18 July 2012) was an Indian actor, film producer and politician. He made his debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat which was India’s first official Oscar Entry in 1967. He starred in 15 consecutive solo hit films from 1969 to 1971, a record unbroken. He was a Member of Parliament in the 10th Lok Sabha from New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency between 1992 and 1996. He has been posthumously awarded India’s third highest civilian honour, Padma Bhushan.

About Rajesh Khanna in brief

Summary Rajesh KhannaRajesh Khanna (29 December 1942 – 18 July 2012) was an Indian actor, film producer and politician. He made his debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat which was India’s first official Oscar Entry in 1967. He starred in 15 consecutive solo hit films from 1969 to 1971, a record unbroken. During his career he appeared in more than 168 feature films and 12 short films. He was a Member of Parliament in the 10th Lok Sabha from New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency between 1992 and 1996. He has been posthumously awarded India’s third highest civilian honour, Padma Bhushan. A one kilometre fitness trail in Lajpat Nagar National Park was named after Khanna in 2018, which was inaugurated by his wife Dimple Kapadia. In 2014, his biography Rajesh Kh Hanna – The untold story of India’sfirst Superstar by Yasser Usman was published by Penguin Books. He died in 2012 after a period of illness and was buried in a private ceremony in New Delhi. He is survived by his two daughters, Twinkle Khanna and Rinke Khanna, and a son, Ravi Kapoor Khanna. His first film audition was for Jeetendra, but he changed his name to Rajesh KKwar when he decided to enter films. Khanna was one of eight finalists from more than 10,000 contestants in the 1965 All Talent Contest, organised by United Producers and Filmfare, along with other students Subhash Ghai and Dheeraj Ghai.

He won the contest along with Farida Jalal, BR Chopra, Sippy Rawal, HSir, Rawal Nasir, Omashan, Jippy Prakashan and Omashal Mohal. He received the Filmfare Best Actor Award three times and the BFJA Awards for Best Actor four times. In 1991, he was awarded a Filmfare Special Award for completing 26 years in the Hindi cinema. In 2005 he was honoured with the Film Fare Lifetime Achievement Award on the 50th Anniversary of the Film fare Awards. He had two daughters from the marriage. Their elder daughter Twinkle is an actress and a best selling author who is married to actor Akshay Kumar, while they also have a younger daughter RinkeKhanna. He once struggled to get work in theatre and films in the early 1960s. His adoptive parents belonged to a family of railway contractors who had moved from Lahore to Bombay in 1935. He lived in Saraswati Niwas, in Thakurdwar near Girgaon, Mumbai. He became a rare newcomer who had his own MG sports car, who once struggled with his own film career. In 1962 Khanna played a wounded mute soldier in the play Andha Yug and impressed with his performance; the chief guest suggested that he get into films soon. He later studied in K C. C. College, Mumbai and Jeetndra studied from Siddharth Jainendra for his film audition.