Mumbai: Today is the 80th birth anniversary of Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna. He was born on 29 December 1942 in Amritsar in a Punjabi Hindu Khatri family. His parents named him Jatin Khanna. Due to the poor parents of Jatin Khanna, he was adopted by one of his relatives. Jatin Khanna was adopted and brought up by Chunnilal Khanna and Lilavati Khanna.
Rajesh Khanna did his schooling at St. Sebastian’s Goa High School. Jatin Khanna later changed his name from Jatin to Jeetendra. After that, he slowly started taking an interest in theatre. He did many stage and theater plays during his school and college days. Rajesh Khanna is called the first superstar of Hindi cinema. Not only this, but he was also affectionately called Kaka. In 1962, Rajesh Khanna played the role of an injured mute soldier in the play ‘Andha Yug’. Due to this, he was praised a lot. Jatin Khanna’s uncle KK Talwar changed his name to Rajesh. After which his name became Rajesh Khanna.
In the early 1970s, Rajesh Khanna fell in love with fashion designer and actress Anju Mahendru. They were in a relationship for seven years, but Anju Mahendru later left her acting career at Rajesh Khanna’s insistence. After which they also ended their relationship. Rajesh Khanna married actress Dimple Kapadia in March 1973. After this, the couple became parents to two daughters, Twinkle and Rinke. After that in 1982, Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia separated.
However, they never divorced. Rajesh Khanna started his career in 1966 with the film ‘Aakhri Khat’. After this, he gave many blockbuster movies to the industry. For which he was also honored with many awards. Including four BFJA Awards and five Filmfare Awards in 2013, he was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honor. Rajesh Khanna died on 18 July 2012 due to illness.
