New Delhi: The Hindi film industry has produced many stars in the past, some were good at romance, some had a penchant for action scenes and some were simply brilliant at dancing. The audience liked them portraying all sorts of characters without leaving the screen; however there was one actor who redefined the death scenes.
There are very few actors in Bollywood who are liked more when they die than when they deliver dialogues, Rajesh Khanna was one of them.
His classic act in ‘Anand’ still inspires people to live life to the fullest. When he says, “Maut tu ek kavita hai. Mujhse ek kavita ka vadaa hai” (Death, you’re a poem. You have made a promise to me), then the entire cinema hall cries with him. Whenever he says ‘babumoshay’, the audience thinks that the man is talking to them only. Though Amitabh was also good in the film, not many paid attention to anything other than Anand’s zeal for life.
In 'Mehbooba' also, Rajesh Khanna and Hema Malini die together. Khanna came up with a great performance in a lavishly mounted reincarnation story of two lovers.
As per a rumour, Rajesh Khanna pressurised the makers of 1973 superhit ‘Namak Haraam’ to feature him as Somnath Chander Singh (Somu) while Amitabh Bachchan was expected to play the same role. One of the prime reasons behind this was the death scene of the film. Rajesh Khanna did the role so convincingly that the film belonged to his character despite a superb performance by Amitabh Bachchan as Vicky.
Shakti Samanta’s 1969 film ‘Aradhana’ showcased Rajesh Khanna in double role; one of these roles was of the air force officer Arun Varma who dies in the beginning. Khanna sings ‘Mere sapno ki…’ before exiting the screen, but that one song remained in the spectators mind till the film finishes. Such was his presence and absence.
If one wants to witness Rajesh Khanna’s expertise in death scenes, 1982 film ‘Disco Dancer’ starring Mithun Chakraborty is a perfect film to watch. Rajesh Khanna dies in the beginning only but he looks so realistic that people actually believed that Mithun is bound to be a big man because Rajesh Khanna has said so.
Even an ordinary actor can pull off the role of a romantic hero but appearing believable in a death scene is a difficult feat to achieve. Rajesh Khanna will live in our hearts forever as he spared us the overacting we see in death scenes otherwise.
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