As Rajesh Khanna’s superstardom was growing rapidly, the fees of each of his films were also increasing. By 1970, he used to charge up to Rs 10 lakh for a film. Subsequently, due to the success of Aradhana (1969), he raised his fees to Rs 20-27 lakh between 1974-77.
Late actor and politician Rajesh Khanna was one of the well-known actors in the Hindi cinema world. He acted in 15 consecutive hits from 1969 to 1971, after which, he was known as the ‘first superstar’ of the Hindi film industry. Rajesh Khanna was born on 29 December 1942 in Amritsar, his childhood name was Jatin. She was adopted by parents who already had three daughters of their own.
Jatin did his schooling from St. Sebastian Goan High School, Mumbai, and college from Navroz Wadia College Pune and KC College Mumbai. He did his studies with his close friend Ravi Kapoor, better known as film star Jitendra.
Rajesh Khanna had won several inter college drama competitions after which he turned to theater. In 1965, he won the All India Talent Contest organized by Filmfare and United Producers and made his debut the following year with Chetan Anand’s ‘Aakhri Khat’. Some of his superhit blockbuster films include Aradhana (1969), Ittefaaz (1969), Sacha Jhoota (1970), Khamoshi (1970), Anand (1971), Kati Kite (1971), Dushman (1972), Amar Prem (1972) .
Rajesh Khanna married actress Dimple Kapadia in 1973. At the time of marriage, Dimple was only 16 years old. They had two daughters, Twinkle Khanna and Rinke Khanna. In 1984, Dimple and Rajesh separated from each other. However, the two had never legally divorced.
As Rajesh Khanna’s superstardom was growing rapidly, the fees of each of his films were also increasing. By 1970, he used to charge up to Rs 10 lakh for a film. Subsequently, due to the success of Aradhana (1969), he raised his fees to Rs 20-27 lakh between 1974-77. By the next decade, Rajesh Khanna’s fee per film had increased from Rs 30-57 lakh to Rs 50-70 lakh in 1981-89.
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There was also a director for whom Rajesh Khanna had reduced his fees, Hrishikesh Mukherjee was the director. Hrishikesh directed Rajesh Khanna in four films titled Anand, (1971), Bawarchi (1972), Namak Haram (1973) and Naukri (1978). Except the job, all three films were super hit at the box office.
In 1992, Rajesh was elected as a candidate of the Indian National Congress from the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. He had completed his five-year term as MP. Rajesh Khanna, popularly known as Kaka in Indian cinema, died in Mumbai on July 18, 2012. Rajesh Khanna was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian honor.
