Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna by Gautam Chintamani

Author:Gautam Chintamani [Chintamani, Gautam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins India
Published: 2014-09-15T04:00:00+00:00

Along with guns and molls, films set in exotic foreign locales were what attracted the most attention in the mid-1970s. And it didn’t come as a surprise that in his search of the elusive lost connect with the audience, Rajesh Khanna plumped for Aashiq Hoon Baharon Ka (1977). That it was produced by the Roti team of K.K. Talwar and Raj Bhatija and directed by J. Om Prakash, would only have made the project more interesting. The film was shot mostly on location in Switzerland.

The whole set-up of Aashiq Hoon Baharon Ka feels forced and one can never let go of the impression that the film-makers were counting on the neat packaging of action, emotion and song-and-dance routines along the scenic Swiss Alps to see the film through. Danny Denzongpa had feared this and even mentioned it to Khanna, but all he got as response was, ‘Nikal jayegi’ (It’ll run). The film might have felt like a paid vacation to the cast and crew, and for Khanna, with mama K.K. Talwar around, it was in fact very much a family outing. Khanna even got homemade food in Europe, kind courtesy Madhu Talwar, his mami, who was known for her culinary skills. Khanna had a fondness for her mutton curry and dal makhni and she remembers how she practically took over a section of the kitchen in the Hyatt in order to cook ‘ghar ka khana’ for Kaka. An unlikely film that still sticks out like a sore in J. Om Prakash’s filmography, there was little anyone could have done with Aashiq Hoon Baharon Ka, and it joined the growing list of Khanna misfires.

Khanna did a complete turnaround in his next release, going from the urbane scientist to a villager in K. Balachander’s Aaina (1977), in which he had a longish special appearance. The film was not just the last one Khanna did with Mumtaz but also happened to be the actress’s final film. Khanna had just four scenes in the film, a Mumtaz show all the way where she plays the eldest daughter of a Brahmin family that is down on its luck.

A remake of Balachander’s own Tamil film and a major inspiration for Laga Chunri Mein Daag (2007) in which Rani Mukherji reprised Mumtaz’s role, Aaina was probably a little too archaic to succeed in the late 1970s. Interestingly, it featured Kamal Haasan in an uncredited cameo as an assistant director on a film shoot that takes place in Shalini’s (Mumtaz) village.

Khanna must be the rare Indian superstar whose on-screen avatars were often indirectly proportional to his stature as a star, and his role in Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein (1977) is a perfect example. Besides being a charming story, Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein is also a wonderful social statement about an educated young man Ravi (Khanna) who cannot find any job commensurate with his education and status. He visits a post office and is mistaken for a candidate for the position of a postman. He ends up bagging a job as a postman in a village.

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