Opinion Kaka’s India

Not “was”,but “is”,because like a meteor,Rajesh Khanna is back in our lives and memories swell up of a time when we were all younger and somehow more innocent. The news of his health and stay in hospital has revived memories of the days when the whole nation was in love with this man. Cinema is a medium of the young. It is sustained by the youth of each cohort — those between teenage,when you can follow your own whims for the first time after childhood,and the age when the cares and worries of being householders leave you little time for dreams. It is this generation that constitutes the fans and eager followers of fashion and fun.

Each generation determines who its star will be. It was Ashok Kumar for the cohort of 1915-1930 and the famous trio of Dilip Kumar,Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand for those born between 1930 and 1945. For anyone born between,say,1945 and 1955,life was defined by Rajesh Khanna,because he was their contemporary and defined them in a way that an iconic figure does in each generation.

India was changing in the sixties. In the fifties,even the great trios of Dilip,Dev and Raj,and Nargis,Madhubala and Meena Kumari,popular as they were,did not attain superstar status. It was our fault,we who were their fans. We were too decorous. We sought their autographs discreetly,approaching them with respect and some fear. The GenNext had no such qualms. They had tasted Shammi Kapoor’s yahoo phase and boldness became their byword. They bombarded their favourites with everything they had and they had much more than the fifties fans as India was getting richer,thanks to a decade of steady growth after a century of stagnation. Rajesh Khanna was the man they mobbed and sobbed for.

Even as the older trio was still shining — though the original RK was a bit dimmed after Mera Naam Joker — the adoration for Rajesh Khanna broke all records with his fifteen successive single star hits. As Mumtaz,his co-star for half a dozen hit films,recalled,there would be scores of girls waiting outside the hotel where he was staying in Madras and they would not let him go till they had an autograph. These girls wore lipstick,unlike their older sisters,and smeared it over his cars or even over their own cars with his name blazoned,declaring their love. Women married his photograph,no doubt dreaming that some day their prince would give them the kiss of a superstar.

His rise was sudden. After the trio of Dilip-Raj-Dev,Rajendra Kumar and Manoj Kumar or Dharmendra should have succeeded the original greats. While they were stars,here was a superstar,a phenomenon unknown previously to the Hindi film industry. He became an internationally known icon. The word “Bollywood” had to wait thirty years to be invented. Yet here was a superstar on whom the BBC made a documentary.

I saw it in London at its first showing in 1974. It recounted his films,Aradhana and Anand and Haathi Mere Saathi,and his record of multiple hits. It reported on the hysteria he generated among his fans. This was the first time a Bombay cinema icon had been noticed by the BBC or any foreign TV channel,and not just because there was a growing Indian diaspora watching western TV programmes. Rajesh Khanna was the first mega star of new India.

Did the BBC documentary spell trouble? Was it a case of nazar lag gayi? That could be an explanation because the turning point for Rajesh Khanna came just around then. Suddenly,he went out of fashion. The hits became rarer though the films were still good in terms of content. His co-star in Anand,Amitabh Bachchan,became the flavour of the decade and went on undiminished for the next thirty years — and still dazzles. The anguish and widespread concern that Bachchan’s on-set injury caused across India was a reminder of the emotional waves superstars cause.

But Rajesh Khanna reminds us of gentler times. It was a time when the nation still had a joy in its heart and hopes for the future. Our younger boys and girls had more freedom to indulge their fantasies. The troubles of the nation — the corruption,the violence,the injustice that Big B so brilliantly reflected — were still in the future,in what we can call a post-Rajesh Khanna world. Those were the days of the Emergency and much division in society. Rajesh Khanna brought cheer to an India that still believed in itself,knew goodness was possible,as his character showed in Anand.

He was also the harbinger of a generation change. Kishore Kumar meant little for the fifties generation except as a yodeller but with Rajesh Khanna he climbed new heights. Pancham and Salim-Javed,who changed Hindi cinema for the seventies and later,were right there with him. But everyone had hits with him,be it Laxmikant-Pyarelal or Hrishikesh Mukherjee. He had the golden touch.

Now,perhaps,with India richer than ever before,with a new generation loaded with apps,it may be good to get Kaka back in our lives in an active way to remind us of the days when we were somehow better. Rajesh Khanna,actor,producer,TV and film star,MP and many many more things,should come back in our lives. It has been a long time. Aa ab laut chalein.

The writer,an economist and Labour peer,is the author of ‘Dilip Kumar in the Life of India’,express@expressindia.com