Rajesh Khanna was the original superstar of Indian cinema, a phenomenon whose popularity reached extraordinary levels. Fans are known to have written him letters in blood, performed symbolic marriages using his photos, and gathered outside his home for hours hoping to catch a glimpse of him.
However, according to Anita Advani, the man behind the legendary photo carried deep emotional scars that existed long before his stardom. She believes that his childhood experiences, broken relationships, and repeated betrayals by those he trusted gradually made him unable to place his trust in the people around him.Anita thought about how Khanna’s experiences changed his outlook on life.“He was suspicious of everyone,” she said on Meri Saheli.
If you ask me psychologically, I think he lost his trust in people. First, it was adopted. Then he was betrayed in relationships. Her friends in the industry had a close relationship with Rajesh Khanna during the last decade of his life, and they claim that Khanna became increasingly isolated and difficult in his final years, suggesting that few people really did.
Even those he helped and eventually succeeded went against him. “He became suspicious of everyone.”Anita, who has long claimed that she was in a close relationship with Rajesh Khanna during the last decade of his life, alleged that several individuals took advantage of the actor’s generosity and goodwill.“A lot of people took advantage of him. During political campaigns, he would go wherever he was asked, but the people in the middle were putting money in their pockets.
Kakaji himself did not take any money at all.It also addressed the widespread perception that Khanna became increasingly isolated and difficult in his later years, suggesting that few people truly understood the circumstances that influenced his personality.“People wonder why there were so many changes in his personality, and why he became so difficult. His life itself started on a complicated note. He was adopted, and when he found out, it was a big shock for him.”Born as Jatin Khanna in 1942, the legendary actor was adopted by his childless relatives, Chunnilal and Liyawati Khanna, who raised him as their own son. Anita believes that discovering the truth about his adoption had a profound emotional impact on him.“He was not close to his real sisters or his family. One time his sister came to meet him and asked him: Who is she?” “There wasn’t a lot of emotional connection.”Rajesh Khanna’s journey to stardom remains one of the most remarkable stories in Indian cinema. After the success of Aradhana in 1969, he made an unprecedented string of 15 consecutive hit films, cementing his status as the country’s first bona fide superstar. At the height of his fame, producers lined up outside his house to sign overs, while his loyal fans expressed an almost unparalleled level of admiration.
