It's been three years since Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna passed away. Hindustan Times takes a trip down memory lane to recount some little known facts about the superstar of the sixties and seventies.
WHAT'S IN A NAME? Rajesh Khanna's original name was Jatin Khanna, while his friends and family members called him Kaka at home. The name ‘Rajesh Khanna’ was given to him by his uncle KK Talwar after his decision to join the film industry.
AMRITSAR CONNECT: Rajesh Khanna was the foster child of Chunni Lal Khanna and Leelawati Khanna, who were relatives of his biological parents. He was born in Amritsar and his parents migrated to Pakistan.
FIRST BREAK: Though Rajesh Khanna's first movie was 'Aakhri Khat', he received his first break as a lead actor in 'Raaz', which was directed by Ravindra Dave opposite Babita.
FAN FOLLOWING: Fans would kiss his car, line up along roads and wait for hours outside his bungalow to catch a glimpse of the superstar Many women would send him letters written in blood. Some even married his photograph! He would often need police protection when out in public.
FILM ON ACTOR: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had made a film on him called 'Bombay Superstar in 1974’.
GOLDEN JODI: The trio of Rajesh Khanna, Kishore Kumar and RD Burman worked wonders in 32 movies and brought about the golden era of music in the Hindi film industry through songs such as 'Kuch to log kahenge' and 'Ye shaam mastani'.
MASTERING GENRES: Rajesh Khanna acted in films of almost every genre be it tragedy, thriller, political adventure, fantasy, crime, action, family drama or movies addressing issues of social awareness. Of the 163 movies, 97 were solo-hero films, 20 were multi-starrers and 29 films had him in guest appearances.
RECORD HITS: He made the world record of having 17 successive super-hits in three years from 1969-71 that included 15 consecutive solo super-hit films and two solo-hero films namely 'Andaz' and 'Maryada'.