Rajesh Khanna, The Super Star

Rajesh Khanna was dubbed as the first Super Star of the Hindi screen. In a reign of five years, from 1969 to 1973, he made a hit after hit that was unprecedented in the Hindi cinema history. He was working on stage when he won the talent contest by the United Producers of Bombay. These were the 10 producers who formed a team to select new talent as an answer to escalating salaries for the established stars.

Rajesh's first movie was Chetan Anand's "Aakhri Khat" released in 1966. Inspite of a great director and some beautiful music, the film was a commercial failure. But things changed when in 1969, Shakti Samanta's "Aradhana" was released. The movie with its beautiful music and strong performance by Sharmila Tagore created history. In Rajesh Khanna, a star was born. And for the next few years, he couldn't do anything wrong.

Rajesh made nearly 130 movies in his professional career. One of our Forum members, Debjyoti, gave me this idea to start a thread on the songs of his albums. By happy coincidence I have CDs of almost all of his movie albums. In the coming months, I will start sharing these albums in chronological order.

Here is part one of Rajesh Khanna's filmography ...

Rajesh Khanna, Filmography Continued ...

In his professional career, Rajesh was nominated for best actor award 11 times. He won the award three times. He won BFJA award for best actor four times, three of them being Hrishikesh Mukherjee movies (Anand, Bawarchi, and Namak Haraam).

Here is part two of the Rajesh Khanna filmography ...

Rajesh Khanna, Filmography Continued ...

One of the lasting contribution of Rajesh Khann's movies is the legacy of beautiful songs. He was a close friend of R.D. Burman and Kishore Kumar. Kishore da gained popularity with the rise in popularity of Rajesh for whom he sang several songs. Burman composed music for nearly 30 movies of Rajesh Khanna.

Here is the third and the last part of Rajesh's filmography ...

Aakhri Khat (1966)

Rajesh Khanna made his debut with this movie. The movie was produced and directed by Chetan Anand. There are are five songs in this movie with Khayyam as usual brilliant in composing these songs. Especially the song by Lataji, "Baharo Mera Jeevan Bhi Sanwaro" is one of her alltime tops. My favorite from the album is Bhupinder's beautiful song "Rut Jawaan Jawaan Raat Meharbaan". Lyrics were written by the incomparable Kaifi Azmi.

Now for the details of the songs and the songs themselves ...

Thanks for starting this thread Swarapriya. Keep it up.

Record Cover for Aakhri Khat

Click to view attachment

Nice Thread, Swarapriya.
Starting with AAKHRI KHAT is a bit surrealistic.
You seem to have a devilish sense of humour.
Keep up the good work.
I am a big fan of your offerings in HF.
And a very HAPPY & MUSICAL New Year.
Regards,
Suresh

happy new year swarapriyaji thanx for starting new thread on super star rajesh khanna

please visit my blog dedicated to greatest genius mohammed rafisaab

http://rafifanblog.blogspot.com/

Swarapriya,

Another great thread on RK, this time Rajesh Khanna. He was a craze
specially for his female fan. I remember reading in some magazine one of his fans made his portrait with her blood. Like Raj Kapoor and Mukesh
Rajesh Khanna and Kishore Kumar were synonymous.

Looking forward to more u/l on this thread but plesae don't ignore the
Raj Kapoor thread.

Thanks for this thread Swarapriyaji,as usually a great start from you.Hoping to get all the songs from his films in due course of time.I am also ready to contribute any song from any of his films if it is not in your collection.

Many thanks to all of you who shared your thoughts and encouragement on this new thread.

Parvez ji,

My special thanks to you for the pointer to one of our greatest singers, Rafi Saab. I visited the blog and impressed with all the pictures and how close your family was with Rafi Saab. Being part of his life must be a great feeling.

Cheers,
Swarapriya

Thanks for the offer. I will certainly ask for help if I need it. Right now I feel that I am in very good shape as far as Rajesh's albums go.

Thanks for the encouragement.

Sangeet ji, thanks for sharing this great picture.

Thanks Suresh. Wish you and your loved ones a great New Year!

No, no, no. How can anyone forget Raj Kapoor? He is always special and will be forever.

Thanks. Could not agree with you more.

Aurat (1967)

This was Rajesh Khanna's second movie. But it was Padmini's movie all the way. Rajesh played her brother and had a limited role. The movie was made by Gemini and directed by Kishore Sahu. Padmini, a beautiful woman and a talented dancer, had to play a role that demanded some histroinics. The movie sadly shows that she was not much of an actress. The story itself was so antiquated that it is hard to swallow. The only redeeming feature of this movie was its beautiful music by Ravi. Almost all songs are good to hear. Lata's solos and Asha's solo are very appealing. But my favorite is the duet "Yeh Kaun Hai" by Asha and Mahendra Kapoor.

The source of these songs is a DVD. The quality of the DVD was very poor. The songs also reflect the same quality. I tried to clean them as much as I could. There is also a skip in Rafi's solo song. Now for the details of the songs and the songs themselves ...

Thanks for this album.

Thanks SP for Aurat.

Baharon Ke Sapne (1967)

Nasir Hussain made himself a name as an out and out entertainer. However, in 1967, while assigning directorial duties of making "Teesri Manzil" to Vijay Anand, he made this socially conscious movie. In a later press article he told its reporter that he wanted to make this movie for a long time and finally had an opportunity to do it. Even though it has superb songs, the movie was not a commercial success. Nasir Hussain went back to his old and proven successful formula of making entertainers.

Here are the details of the songs and the songs themselves ...

Raaz (1967)

Rajesh started his acting stint working for several famous producers. This movie was produced by Sippy (later of "Sholay" fame). Like Rajesh himself, its heroine Babita (later to become wife of Randhir Kapoor) was a relative newcomer. The movie was based on mystery and had some beautiful songs by Kalyanji & Anandji. The dual version of "Akele Hain" is one to savor. The duet of Lata and Mukesh is another popular number.

Here is a description of these songs and the songs themselves ...

Thanks swarapriya !!! I totally agree "Akele Hain..." is an awesome song !!!!

Hi Jigri, I'm glad to hear from you. Cheers. -S

Thanks SP for Raaz and Baharon Ke Sapne.

You're welcome. Cheers.

Aradhana (1969)

"Aradhana" established several firsts in the Hindi film industry. Shakti Samanta was known to make entertainers and not emotional dramas. Here he goes against the trend to make a great break away movie. The movie itself was based on the 1946 Hollywood classic “To Each His Own”. Samanta won the Filmfare best picture award for the movie. Five years later, in 1974, the movie was made into Tamil ("Sivahamiyiri Selvan") and Telugu ("Kannavari Kalalu").

Samanta originally offered the role to that fine Bengali actress Aparna Sen. For reasons unknow, she refused the role. Samanta who earlier introduced Sharmila Tagore in “Kashmir Ki Kali” offered her the role where she has to play a mother most of the movie. The serious side of Sharmila was only seen in Satyajit Ray’s films but never before in a Hindi movie. She played the role Olivia de Havilland won an Oscar in the English version. Interestingly, Sharmila also won the Filmfare award for best actress for her touching portrayal in this movie.

Rajesh Khanna starred in five movies before “Aradhana”. All of them were failures. In 1968, he didn’t have a single movie. But this all changed in late 1969. “Aradhana” was released nationwide in October 1969. By overnight it became a huge hit and Rajesh Khanna became a phenomenon. A super star was suddenly discovered by the film going public. The Khanna phenomenon lasted nearly five years until romance was replaced by angry young man’s problems.

This movie also catapulted Kishore Kumar to a playback singing force. In an article in “Screen”, the writer explains that the two duets of Rafi Saab were first picturized and Burman da was all set to go for other songs with Rafi. But Burman da seriously fell ill and went into coma. R.D. Burman who was assisting his father, took over the reins. He also made the decision to use Kishore’s voice for Rajesh. Both of his solos and the duet with Lata that he recorded became huge hits. The song “Roop Tera Mastaana” became a national craze. It also fetched Kishore da a Filmfare award as the best male playback singer.

Because of the date conflicts of Sharmila and Rajesh, for the song "Mere Sapnon Ki Rani", Samanta shot only Rajesh's portions in Darjeeling. Sharmila's portions were done in a studio. Incidentally, in the recent movie "Parineeta (2005)" where Sharmila's real life son, Saif Ali Khan, plays a major role, apparently rides the same train his mother should have used.

All these songs came from a CD. I am also including a version song by Amit Kumar, “Mere Sapnon Ki Rani” from his private album. Now here are the details of all the songs and the songs themselves …

Last Song Of "Aradhana (1969)"

Here is the last song. This was done by Amit Kumar. It is from his private album "Khiza Ke Phool". Bit rate is 192 Kb/s. Time is 5:04. MP3. The song is "Mere Sapnon Ki Rani".

Aradhana was the film that made Rajesh Khanna a superstar and made Kishore Kumar the undisputed KING of playback singing.Rajesh Khanna was replaced by Big B in 1974 but Kishore Kumar craze is intact even today.

nice one! thanks!

Bandhan (1969)

Songs from this album were recently posted by ChetanNaik in the section on "Legendary Music Directors" under "Kalyanji Anandji". You can access these songs at the following path ...

http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?showtopic=68810

Do Raaste (1969)

In the wake of "Aradhana", Rajesh hit another bulls eye with this movie. "Do Raaste" was released almost simultaneously with "Aradhana". Inspite of a very tried family subject, it went onto celebrate a golden jubilee. The music played a big part and people just discovered Rajesh Khanna. Adding this to was the beauty of Mumtaz. It all helped.

There are so many beautiful songs in this movie. Of course "Bindiya Chamkegi" was a chart buster. But Kishore also has a great song in "Mere Naseeb Mein". But my favorite from this album happens to be the beautifully sung "Yeh Reshmi Zulfen". The way Rafi Saab sings this song it is very very heart warming.

Now for details of these songs and the songs themselves ...

Mere naseeb mein aye dost is a great song,all the songs of this film are good.

Doli (1969)

This was made from a hit Telugu movie "Tene Manasulu". The movie in Telugu was kind of trailblazing. Every actor in it was a newcomer. Producers spared no expense and made the movie even in color. It was a huge gamble. Fortunately it paid off handsomely as it became very successful. They decided to make it in Hindi and when they signed both Babita and Rajesh Khanna, they were relative newcomers. Hindi version was also directed by the director of the Telugu movie, Adurti Subba Rao. The movie in Hindi only enjoyed modest success. But it has some very beautiful songs tuned by Ravi.

Here are the details of the songs and the songs themselves ...

Are you sure PEHLE JHUK KAR KARO SALAAM & CHALO RE DOLI from DOLI?

PEHLE JHUK KAR KARO SALAAM ------> yes

but

CHALO RE DOLI -------------> Jaani Dushman

Yes I remember this one. Sanjeev Kumar as the ghastly looking horror.

Thanks for pointing out the error. I made the necessary changes to the uploads. Cheers.

Swarapriya

Ittefaq (1969)

This movie starred Nanda and Rajesh Khanna. It has no songs. B.R. Chopra poduced it and Yash Chopra directed it. Elder Chopra was making "Aadmi Aur Insaan" at the time. Its heroine, Saira Banu, broke her leg bringing all shooting for that movie to a stand still. B.R. decided to make use of this unexpected liesure time to make a quickie. He entrusted his younger brother Yash to do it.

"Ittefaq" was made in four weeks and went onto to become a huge success. It was based on the English movie "Signpost to Murder" made in 1964 that starred Joanne Woodward and Stuart Whitman.

Incidentally, B.R. also made the first songless movie earlier, "Kanoon (1960)", that was a fine piece of example in what acting is all about as evidenced by the portrayal of Ashok Kumar in that movie. Ittefaq se Nanda starred in that movie as well.

Khamoshi (1969)

Here are the details of the songs ...

First five songs from this table are still available in the section on "Legendary Singers" under "Hemant Kumar". You can access these songs at the following path ...

http://www.hamaraforums.com/index.php?showtopic=62026

There are couple of more songs I am uploading in addition to the ones in the above thread. Lata's version of "Woh Shaam Kuchh Ajeeb Thi" was contributed by Exon. The other one is the same song from Amit Kumar's CD, "Khiza Ke Phool".

Now for these two songs ...

Woh shaam kuch ajeeb thi by Kishore Kumar is a timeless classic.

I am in total agreement with you on this. This is one of my alltime favorites too. Cheers.

Swarapriyaji,

You r an angel par excellence. Would hv loved to interact with you listening to the 1oo's of anecdotes dat we all music lover hv close 2 our heart associated with the Hindi Music Industry.

Its okay .. I know u prefer remaining anonymous.. I am for the record a MBA 2nd year student at IIM Kozhikode Kerala India

Its depressing here with very poor Campus-Placements going on rt now (All the IIM's are hit big time by pathetic placements owing 2 the unprecedented Global turmoil)

Its only music which soothes d nerves in these times of uncertainity

Just one querry.. the Lata version of 'Woh Shaam Kuch Aur Thi' .. is it from her Sharaddanjali album?

Keep up d good work.

My best wishes & praises are always 4 all yr endeavors

Maverick

Thanks for the kind words Maverick. No, this song is not part of any of her 3-part CD of "Shraddhanjali".

Cheers,
S

Swarapriya,

I just downloaded & listened to this Lata version of 'Woh Shaam Kuch Ajeeb Thi'

This is indeed d song from her later years Shraddanjali

I already had it.. Its nt the song from the original soundtrack.. Probably lata never sang this song back then..

As is evident from her voice.. It resembles the voice she had during 'Maine Pyar Kiya'

Could someone pls confirm the exact album where Lata first sang this version?

Maverick

Aan Milo Sajna (1970)

Here is a beautiful album by the duo Laxmikant & Pyarelal. There are some entertaining songs in this movie. My favorite is that jolly Kishore's solo "Jawani O Diwani". When you hear this song you feel like swinging with it. Now for the details of the songs and the songs themselves ...

Nice album,my fav is also jawani o dewani.

where r the songs ???

Kati Patang (1970)

Here is R.D. Burman at his best. This is just one great album with superbly composed songs. In a rare appearance Mukesh sings for RD and the result is mind blowing. "Jis Gali Mein" is one my favorites of Mukesh. All three solos by Kishore are also absolute delight. The solo by Lata, the title song, is also a classic. Asha Parekh won Filmfare award as best actress for her role in this movie.

Various popular singers of today have sung Kishore's songs from this movie. I am including some of them here. These will be uploaded right after the main songs as a second installment.

Now for details of the songs and the songs themselves ...