Even today, fans’ eyes sparkle when the name of Hindi cinema’s first superstar Rajesh Khanna comes up. No other actor got the kind of popularity he achieved in the 1960s and 70s. The stardom of Rajesh Khanna, who made the record of 15 superhit films one after the other, was at its peak. But after every high there comes a turn, and the same turn came in his career too.
On the occasion of Rajesh Khanna’s birthday, it is important to remember that period of his life, when after immense success, his career started entering a difficult phase. It is said that the box office performance of his films suddenly began to weaken in the mid-1970s. During this period, he gave 7 consecutive flop films, which shocked the film industry.
According to film experts, the biggest reason for Rajesh Khanna’s bad times was the changing audience and the new trend of cinema. While on one hand the audience had moved beyond romantic heroes to action and realistic characters, on the other hand new stars were emerging rapidly. Actors like Amitabh Bachchan captured the attention of the audience with the image of the ‘angry young man’, which changed the course of cinema.
Rajesh Khanna’s films which disappointed at that time had stories which were based on old formulas. The same romance and emotion no longer seemed new to the audience. Along with this, he also made some mistakes regarding the film selection, which he himself later admitted in the interview.
However, it would be wrong to say that flop films had ended the popularity of Rajesh Khanna. Even during that period, the number of his fans did not decrease. Even today, flowers were placed on the posters of his name outside the theaters and fans flocked to see him. The only difference was that the box office magic was not the same as before.
Despite bad times, Rajesh Khanna did not give up. With time he changed his roles and established his strong presence in supporting roles as well. In films like ‘Avatar’, ‘Swarg’ and ‘Aag Ka Gola’, he proved that the power of acting is not dependent on age or trend.
Rajesh Khanna’s life is an example of the fact that success in the film world is not permanent, but talent is always remembered. The period of flop films was also a part of his shining career, which made him a more mature artist.
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