Rajesh Khanna born Jatin Khanna was an Indian actor, film producer and politician who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is referred to as the "first superstar" and the "original superstar" of Indian cinema. He starred in 15 consecutive solo hit films in the period 1969 to 1971, still an unbreakable record.
He made his debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat. Through his career he appeared in mo...Rajesh Khanna born Jatin Khanna was an Indian actor, film producer and politician who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is referred to as the "first superstar" and the "original superstar" of Indian cinema. He starred in 15 consecutive solo hit films in the period 1969 to 1971, still an unbreakable record.
He made his debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat. Through his career he appeared in more than 160 feature films and 17 short films. He received the Filmfare Best Actor Award award three times and the BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) four times. In 1991, he was awarded the Filmfare Special Award and in 2005, he received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. He was the highest paid Indian actor from 1970 to 1987 where Amitabh Bachchan shared the same tag with Khanna from 1980 to 1987.
He was also a Lok Sabha member of the Indian National Congress from New Delhi constituency from 1992 to 1996.
He married Dimple Kapadia in March 1973, eight months before her debut film Bobby was released and had two daughters from the marriage. Their elder daughter Twinkle Khanna is married to actor Akshay Kumar, while they also have a younger daughter Rinke Khanna.
Born on 29 December 1942, in Amritsar in the state of Punjab, as Jatin Khanna, Khanna was adopted and raised by Chunni Lal Khanna and Leela Wati Khanna, who were relatives of his biological parents. His father had migrated from pre-partitioned Pakistan to 'Gali Tiwarian' in Amritsar. His biological parents were Lala Hiranand and Chandrani Khanna. Lala worked as headmaster of the MC High School in Burewala (in present-day Pakistan), Vehari District, Punjab, Pakistan. His adoptive parents belonged to a family of railway contractors who had moved from Lahore to Bombay in 1935. Khanna lived in Saraswati Niwas in Thakurdwar near Girgaon, Mumbai.
From the early nineties, while serving as Congress M.P. from 1991 to 1996, he returned to acting, playing the lead in Khudai (1994), which was about a father and son both falling in love for the same woman. After 1992, he appeared in only 10 films and declined most film offers. He made a comeback as a NRI in Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999), and Kyaa Dil Ne Kahaa (2002) and played the solo lead in films Sautela Bhai in 1996, Pyar Zindagi Hai in 2001, Kaash Mere Hote in 2009, Wafaa in 2008 and Riyasaat in 2013. He did 4 television serials in the period 2000-2009.
Khanna won four Best Actor Awards in the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards, and received 25 nominations. He won three Filmfare Best Actor Awards, one Filmfare Special Guest Actor Award in 1973, and received a Filmfare Special Award in 1991, after 25 years in the Hindi film industry. He received the Filmfare Life Time Achievement Award at the 50th anniversary Filmfare award ceremony in 2005.
