Bollywood's 'first superstar' passes away

Rajesh Khanna
[1942-2012]
[FILE PHOTO] 

Mumbai: Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna passed away on Wednesday at his residence in Mumbai after battling with prolonged illness.

The 69-year-old actor breathed his last in the presence of his wife Dimple Kapadia, daughters Rinkie and Twinkle, son-in-law Akshay Kumar and other close relatives.

Notably, his health conditions had been deteriorating for some time. On 23 June 2012 he was admitted to Lilavati Hospital due to some health complications and later discharged on 8 July 2012 from the hospital.

On 14 July 2012, Rajesh Khanna was readmitted to the Lilavati hospital but was discharged on 17 July.

Popularly known as Kaka, Rajesh Khanna appeared in 163 feature films of which 128 films saw him as the lead protagonist; he appeared in 17 short films as well.

The veteran actor had won three Filmfare Best Actor Awards and was nominated for the same fourteen times. He received the maximum BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) – four times and nominated 25 times. 

In 1991, he was awarded the Filmfare Special Award for completing 25 years in the industry, appearing in a record 106 films as the single lead protagonist in a span of 25 years.

In 2005, he was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.

Born on December 29, 1942, Khanna is referred to as the "First Superstar" of Hindi cinema. He made his debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat and rose to prominence with his performances in films like Raaz, Baharon Ke Sapne, Ittefaq and Aradhana.