By: Roshmila Bhattacharya

His parents named him Jeetendra but very few people called him by that name. To his family he was Kaka and to his friends he was Jatin. When he signed his first film, Raaz, none of these three names seemed appropriate. There was one Jeetendra already in movie town, you couldn't have another one jumping around. Jatin was too short and familiar while Kaka was good only as a nickname. It's another story that Kaka was picked up later by the whole industry including his wife Dimple but way back in the '60s everyone agreed that this Jeetendra needed a new name for the screen promptly. It was his uncle who hit upon the right one. Rajesh Khanna had a regal ring to it since Rajesh meant King of The Kings. Mamaji hoped that with his new name Rajesh Khanna would reign over showbiz. And he did, for a good part of the sensational '70s.

 However, despite his kingly name Rajesh Khanna didn't become a phenomenon overnight. Raaz didn't set the box-office on fire. Chetan Anand's Aakhri Khat made him a part of meaningful cinema but didn't get him much money. Baharon Ke Sapne, Khamoshi and Avishkar that followed proved that this young man with chinky eyes and a puckish grin could act, but they also didn't make much of an impact. It was Aradhana that gave Rajesh Khanna his first hit and catapulted him into big time.

Interestingly, if Waheeda Rehman had recommended Rajesh Khanna's name for Khamoshi then it was Shamila Tagore who coaxed Shakti Samata whose Evening In Paris had turned her from a devi to a glamour girl, to take a dekko at Rajesh. Shakti Samanta was initially skeptical. Though Aradhana was a showcase for Sharmila the role of her lover and illegitimate son was also integral to the script. And the producer-director was looking for an actor who could play both father and son convincingly. However, though a dynamic double role, not many of the saleable stars showed much interest in Aradhana. For one, they had been given to believe that it was Sharmila's film. Then the hero romancing the dream girl died suddenly and the son was paired up with Farida Jalal. Hard put for stars Shakti eventually settled for Rajesh Khanna. And immediately ran himself into hot waters with the distributors.

Aradhana didn't have any takers. Buyers were not interested in a film that had a newcomer not just playing the hero but a double role. Their interest further sagged when they learnt that the sizzling Sharmila after her lover's death, an unwanted pregnancy and a murder rap took to wearing a widow's weeds and appeared completely without make-up, with chalk in her hair, in the rest of the film. Who was interested in a deglamorized glamour girl? "The film won't run," was the verdict. But it did. It ran to full houses for several months all over the country and created box-office history. And Rajesh Khanna finally lived up to his new name. He became the King of Kings.

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