King of Romance of the Hindi Screen has passed away
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- Created on Friday, 20 July 2012 10:53
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Rajesh Khanna, the Superstar of Bollywood in the 1960s and 70s and the Hindi film industry's biggest heart-throb during that period, passed away yesterday after being ill. He was 69 in age.
It is said that he was suffering from cancer. He has passed away at his family home in Mumbai after being discharged from hospital on Tuesday.
Rajesh Khanna entered the filmworld in "Aakhri Khat" (The Last Letter) in 1966 but became popular with the super hit film "Aaradhna" (Worship) three years later, followed by a string of successes.
He has acted in 163 feature films of which 128 films saw him as the leading actor. He has won three Filmfare Best Actor Awards and was nominated for the same fourteen times. He received the most BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) – four times and nominated 25 times. In 1991, he was awarded the Filmfare Special Award for completing 25 years in the industry, appearing in a record 106 films as the single lead protagonist in a span of 25 years.
In 2005, he was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. Rajesh was referred to as the "First Superstar" of Hindi cinema.
His films that drove Hindi filmgoers crazy included Aaradhana, Kati Patang, Amar Prem, Raaz, Baharon Ke Sapne, Ittefaq, Anand and Haati Mere Saati. He has given 35 Golden Jubilee Hits in the period 1966-1975, three more in 76-78 and 35 more in the period 1979-1991 and gave 22 silver jubilee hits in the period 1966-1991. He was also considered as the “King of Romance”
He married Dimple Kapadia in March 1973, six months before Dimple's debut film Bobby was releasedand had two daughters Twinkle Khanna and Rinke Khanna from the marriage. They separated in 1984 and thereafter lived separately, but did not complete the divorce proceedings.
He was also a member of Parliament for the Indian National Congress, from the New Delhi constituency, where he won the 1992 by-election, retaining his seat until the 1996 election. (niz)
