Daniel Larison

Romney and Poland

Rajesh Khanna, R.I.P.

By Daniel Larison • July 18, 2012, 8:03 PM

Bollywood legend Rajesh Khanna has passed away at the age of 69. Rajeev Sharma comments on his career:

Success would not escape the actor for long. “Aaradhana” (The Prayer) in 1969, flooded India like a tsunami, and Khanna became a superstar overnight.

This is my favorite song from that movie:

Sharma mentions the story behind another famous song:

One little known fact about Rajesh Khanna is that his immortal song “Roop Tera Mastana” from “Aaradhana” with Sharmila Tagore was shot in one take without any audio tape running in the backdrop. The reason: producer Shakti Samant wanted to capture the raw emotions of his lead pair without the traditional audio back-up. The rest, as they say, is history, as the song is considered the ultimate song of raw passion in Bollywood.

Posted in Bollywood, film. Tagged Bollywood, Rajeev Sharma, Rajesh Khanna.

5 Responses to Rajesh Khanna, R.I.P.

calder says:

July 18, 2012 at 8:54 pm

A technical request …
From the /larison/ index page … a click on comments links on posts takes one to the bottom of the clicked post (unless there are many … approximately 8-10 comments already there). It should always take one to the top of the comments section.
Cornel Lencar says:

July 18, 2012 at 11:18 pm

I didn’t know you are a Bollywood fan Daniel. Good for you. But you should check “Lagaan” with the Paalanhare song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDXX3z1YOpg
Daniel Larison says:

July 19, 2012 at 8:43 am

Thanks for the link. I have a copy of Lagaan and a CD of its soundtrack, so I’ve listened to this one many times. Glad you enjoyed the post.
KXB says:

July 19, 2012 at 9:35 am

Growing up in NY, the Aradhana record was played frequently. Of course, Rajesh Khanna was just lip-synching the song, which was sung by Kishore Kumar. I still cannot speak Hindi, but the songs bring back a lot of memories. If you have time, you may want to rent “Today’s Special”, a little indie feature about a young Indian cook in NY. A typical immigrant story starring The Daily Show’s Aasif Mandvi, but they play a number of songs from Aradhana, and the memories would come flooding back. I’d say the songs from “Aradhana” have the same resonance for Indians that the soundtrack to “Saturday Night Fever” has for Americans.
Rojo says:

July 20, 2012 at 2:52 am

@ Cornel

I have very fond memories of Lagaan. I’m gland you mentioned it.