Posted by: GeetMaiJawaafDiu? July 21, 2012
R.I.P Rajesh Khanna
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Rajesh Khanna - The Man That Never Was
Read from the link below.
(Source: http://blandspice.****blo****g***spot.in/2012/07/rajesh-khanna-man-that-never-was.html
. Remove the **** characters from the link and it should work. Sajha thinks I am trying to hamper their cash register)

(It's Saturday...it's raining here and it's my day off.. what the heck!.... Here it goes, just my opinion).

To start with, Rajesh Khanna could not dance well enough; something obviously expected of a superstar. Neither did he demonstrate convincing fight scenes nor do I remember him handling a gun like a pro on screen. Before bestowing that eternal "Superstar" tag to him, one has to realize that in Bollywood, most of the boiler room work of a successful movie is done by the playback singers and musicians. Notice that majority of his movies has the indomitable playback voice of the time, i.e. Kishor Kumar and perhaps RD Burman's or others' music. Music is what sells Bollywood well inspite of a hodge podge and a banal storyline. That was exactly what successful film-makers Yash Chopra and Firoz Khan understood very well and maintained close relationships with the main players in that area.

In all fairness, one of the most talented actors in Bollywood of the last fifty years, might very well have been our own "Jwaai Saap", the one and only Govinda. For God's sake, the man can dance like Jeetender, fight like Dharmender, cry like Rajender, and make-laugh like JohnnyLever. Two things that he deficiently lacked were Amitabh Bachchan's Baritone Voice to deliver punchline-dialogues in one of those "formula movies" and yes also Amitabh's Lefty Hand which when toying with a pistol in an undecided manner throws the bad guy into trepidation whether AB's character is going to "Shoot or Not?".

Can't over-stress the importance of music here again. For instance, would Amitabh's movie Sharaabi be so intoxicating without Kishor's voice in numbers like Inteha Ho Gayee or Manzile Apni Jagah? Along the same line were Namak Halaal, Yaarana, Muqaddar Ka Sikander, Laawaris. In those movies Kishor's voice and more importantly his heart emanated through the winning songs. Unlike Rajesh K's ephemeral stardom, Amitabh was more of a talent and a star. In the final analysis, Kishor Kumar's singing prowess was a huge multiplier of either of those talents or any of other actor's during that generation.

More contemporarily, the music talents who have been driving Bollywood in the post-era of Kishor Kumar, RD Burman Laxmikant Pyarelal and other players might be A R Rehman, Udit Narayan and some other relevant talents after Kumar Sanu priced himself out with his ego and compensation demands. Udit Narayan's legacy has been well-cemented after he sang for record blockbuster DDLJ to Shah Rukh antic's in the number Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane and Pehla Nasha in JJWS for Aamir Khan.

Back to Rajesh Khanna's stardom, the game was over after the fans came to their senses and cash-registers stopped ringing. In the own words of the blogger in the link above: "Reclaiming superstardom is like waiting to be struck by a lightening a second time.", Rajesh Khanna's stardom was more of a fluke than a real genius. No wonder, I have never met any new Nepali who is below 30 years of age and carries a first name Rajesh.
 

Last edited: 21-Jul-12 12:50 PM
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