Entertainment

Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna dies at 69

The actor is hailed as India's first superstar after solo superhits between 1969 and 1972.

18 July,2012 12:55 pm

First Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khan breathed his last on July 18, he was 69. He is survived by his estranged wife Dimpla Kapadia and two daughters Twinkle and Rinke. Film actor Akshay Kumar was his son-in-law.In the past, the actor had already visited the hospital thrice due to weakness and BP problem.Khanna had been suffering from bad health since some time and buzz had it that the actor’s liver had been damaged due to his alcohol addiction.The actor was said to be in a critical state at his Bandra residence since Tiesday night.Born on December 29, 1942, as Jatin Khanna, the actor was raised by the relatives of his biological parents. He attended St. Sebestian’s Goan High School along with his childhood friend Ravi Kapoor, who later adopted the screen name Jeetendra. Always high on confidence, Rajesh Khanna was the other name for style; he even struggled in his own MG sports car.Destined to be an actor, Rajesh Khanna had won several acting competitions at various levels before debuting in ‘Aakhri Khat’ (1966). What else could a first timer wish for other than a director like Chetan Anand. However, his real break was Ravindra Dave’s ‘Raaz’ (1967).After a string of successful films such as ‘Baharon Ke Sapne’, ‘Aradhana’, ‘Ittefaq’, and ‘Do Raaste’, he marched into the hearts of millions of his fans, who credited Khanna with the title of superstar. Delivering 15 consecutive solo hits seemed easy every time his face appeared on the posters of a new film.RIP Rajesh Khanna