Rajesh Khanna: The Untold Story of India’s First Superstar

by Yasser Usman

The untold story of Hindi cinema’s first superstar

Obsessed female fans routinely sent him love letters written in blood. Hysterical crowds camped outside his house to catch a glimpse of the superstar. And the frenzy unleashed by his public appearances was enough to give law-enforcers a nightmare. In the 1970s, Rajesh Khanna achieved the kind of fame that no film star had ever experienced before—or has since. But having climbed to the pinnacle of success, he then saw it all vanish. And through it all, he remained a fighter till the very end.

In this riveting biography, journalist Yasser Usman examines Rajesh Khanna’s dramatic, colourful life in its entirety: from little-known facts about his childhood to the low-down on his relationships and rivalries, from his ambitious hopes to his deep-seated insecurities. What emerges is a tantalizingly written, meticulously researched chronicle of a fascinating and mercurial man—one who was both loved and feared by those closest to him. It is a story that encapsulates the glittering, seductive, cut-throat world of Bollywood at its best and its worst.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, India, Media Tie In

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Shivangi Yadav · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2.5
After the death of India's first 'superstar' there was a race to release his unofficial biographies to cash in on the renewed interest in Khanna. The book aims to shed a light into both the personal and professional life of Khanna so that we can get to know the person behind the superstar.
And sadly that is where the book fails. My biggest grouse with the book is that it depends almost entirely on articles/gossip pieces to recreate the life of Rajesh Khanna. There are no interviews with his leading ladies (who played a major role in his professional life), his directors, family members, friends. These people are quoted from various interviews that they have given over years. Which is unfair because as the author himself points out, Khanna was a master at handling press, only hobnobbing with those who loved him when he was on top, and failed totally when his star was on wane and the media backlash against him was unleashed.
I felt disappointed with the book. It could have been so much more, but the author settled for so less.

[E.T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 What a horrible man ! Was reminded of Steve Jobs. Sorry dear Rajesh Khanna fans, but he is possibly the most self-obsessed man I have read about. He asked his baaraat to be diverted so that it passed by the house of his ex-girlfriend of 7 years. That is one example of many.
Didnt like him as an actor as he was too repetitive. Picked up this book to read about the Rajesh Khanna craze in the early 1970s. Was a fast breezy read and ideal for reading while on a trip.

[Sanjeev Chhabra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was as much of a Rajesh Khanna fan as the boy next door in Rajouri Garden circa 1971. Too young to really adultate an actor, I was more of a fan of Anand Sehgal of Anand, or Anand Babu in Amar Prem, and cried with Kaka each time.
Then, like any other boy, I grew into a teenager who always wanted to see the next Amitabh Bachchan release.

I became an official fan when one evening in the canteen of IIT, I encountered an Amitabh Bachchan fanatic. Somewhere between normalizing Big B, to defending Kaka, I started following his movies.

Decades went and all was forgotten, till 18th July 2012 when Kaka died. The frenzy caught up again, and I realized I wasn't alone.
You see, having stayed in Mumbai and having married a Mumbaikar, I could sense the animosity the city held to him, which was equal in quantum to the fanaticism they held for AB.
I could sense it in the reaction to Kaka's reddened face in his futile come back 'Aa Ab Laut Chalen'. I could sense it when the Kingdom of Dreams hosted Jhumroo, a musical tribute to Kishore Kumar: 13 songs, and not one from a Rajesh Khanna film! Too much of a coincidence.

But everything changed in the fan frenzy after his death. If Mumbai hated him, where did those 9 lakh people descend from to attend his funeral in the rain?
I was pretty curious about this man: Wrong, wronged, or just a regular guy?

It was in 2014, then, that I grabbed upon a biography by Gautam Chintamani called The Dark Star.
The book took us through his life. It remained mostly descriptive and avoided being judgemental or creating controversy. The book lightly covered the rumours about his excesses and calls them as human foibles or just stays neutral. But one thing the book stated in clear unimpeachable terms: Salim Khan. It fairly and squarely laid the blame on Salim Khan on keeping him put of every strict they wrote, which expedited his downfall.

Salim Khan obviously read that. So the first thing he does is he makes sure he appears in Shatrughan Sinha's autobiography as a hero who fought against the Amitabh lobby to ensure the role he wrote for Sinha goes to Sinha. En passant Salim Khan also makes a mention on how he vetoed Yash Chopra on taking Kaka in Deewar for Shashi Kapoor 's part. Because the script demanded it.

So this book which I am now reviewing is something I should have been careful of, because Salim Khan had written the foreword.
I won't be surprised if Salim had ghost written the book too.
This book brings out all the hatred Salim Khan has against Rajesh Khanna. He doesn't deny he kept Rajesh out of all the big banners "because the script demanded."
The book paints Kaka black as a husband, a father, a citizen, a politician, a human.
Later on, the writer does the lame trick of blaming all of Kaka's tantrums on his childhood trauma of adoption.
Salim Khan was hurt by Kaka at the height of his stardom. He made sure Kaka suffered enough in his lifetime.

After his death, I am sure, Kaka did not descend from the heavens and sponsor Gautam Chintamani to write that book.
This book has abused the power of the pen and taken journalism to disrepute.
Salim Khan should have been a man and settled his scores when Kaka was living.

[Singho · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Originally published on my blog - http://singhosabode.blogspot.in/2015/...)

“A king dies a king! He might not have a following. He might be dying alone, lost in a desert, but he will still be a king, whether on a throne or in exile!” – Rajesh Khanna

As someone who grew up in the 90s, I never witnessed Rajesh Khanna’s stardom prevalent in the 70s or the subsequent downfall in the 80s. Nor did I grew up on his movies and haven’t seen all of them, which I am not too proud of. Despite being one of the busiest star, on screen he always displayed great depth and maturity accompanied by his easy charming smile. That’s a sign of an actor par excellence. From all his wonderful movies, two that I have seen and love are Anand and Bawarchi, the former being an all time favourite. As a result, he was always an actor that I heard often about but knew nothing concrete.

Very often, I would hear Rajesh Khanna being addressed as the first and biggest superstar that Indian film industry has ever seen. I always felt his projected image in the media was bit of an exaggeration; a mere courtesy akin to the string of praises given to every Lifetime Achievement winner in popular film award shows or a gesture shown out of respect. In today’s age, actors like Amitabh Bachchan followed by Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan are called superstars too. So I wondered why Rajesh Khanna’s popularity deserved a special mention.

I discovered after reading Yasser Usman’s book ‘Rajesh Khanna- The Untold Story of India's First Superstar’ why his super stardom was and still is incomparable. And no, it isn’t an exaggeration.

The book starts with a foreword by acclaimed film writer, Salim Khan who is also the father of actor Salman Khan. His son is a superstar of today’s time and thousands of fans gather around their Bandra home just to get a glimpse of the Dabangg actor. Thus when Salim Khan says, “I have witnessed many such sights in front of Ashirwad. And I have never seen that kind of mass adulation for any other star after Rajesh Khanna”, one can only imagine what level of fan following the yesteryear’s star enjoyed.

As you turn the pages, you get to meet the spoiled & struggling 23 year old Jatin Khanna. Yes, he wasn’t a ‘poor’ struggling actor trying to make ends meet like I assumed him to be. Struggling actor he was. But he was a ‘rich’ struggling actor. Writer Yasser Usman addresses Rajesh Khanna by his real name ‘Jatin’ while narrating the early days until he changed his name officially. This helps to build two distinct characters of the same person in the reader’s mind. Jatin, the pre-fame struggling actor. Rajesh, the box office king and superstar.

The biography breezes through his theatre days, the United Producers - Filmfare Talent Contest, his initial flops, the golden period between 1969-1972, his decline and the final chapter when he disappeared into oblivion. Running in the background are his romantic relationships: his first love Surekha, long-term relationship with Anju Mahendroo, impulsive wedding with the 16-year-old Dimple, affair with the pretty Tina Munim and very brief references about his alleged relationship with Anita Advani.

The experience was almost like reading a typical fictional story as Usman has taken the liberty to dramatize certain episodes of the actor’s life. For instance, while narrating the day when Rajesh Khanna fell from his brand new bicycle and fell in love with Surekha (his teenage love) when she came out with antiseptic liquid and cotton swab, he wrote ‘The cycle responded well- the pedaling was smooth, the chain well oiled. Round and round he went in the compound, enjoying the thrill.’

It is this fictionalized style of writing of Yasser Usman backed by extensive research and journalistic sensibilities, which made it easy-to-read. It enabled someone like me to enjoy the superstar’s life story irrespective of the generation I was born in. The fact can’t be ignored that what must have come to Yasser Usman’s aid while writing is that Rajesh Khanna’s life was no less than a spicy Bollywood potboiler, with all the essential elements like success, failure, affairs, jealousy, revenge, ego, resentment, loneliness, competition, and drama. Very tactfully, Usman manages to build mystery (about Khanna’s childhood that very few know about) and heartbreak drama (about his break-up with Anju Mahendroo and subsequent marriage & separation with Dimple Kapadia).

It is peppered with never-heard gossip and quotes by Rajesh Khanna or about Rajesh Khanna that shocked and amused me. Like when Devyani Chaubal warned him about ‘lambu’ Amitabh Bachchan or when Randhir Kapoor expressed his displeasure about Dimple Kapadia getting married and pregnant while shooting for ‘Bobby’. There are many, many more such juicy anecdotes about actors of those times and film industry in general that will urge you to turn the pages. After all, we are ‘filmstars obsessed’ nation!

What it left me feeling? With mixed feelings about the ‘Phenomenon’ called Rajesh Khanna. At various places, I disliked him, liked him, felt sorry for him or got appalled reading about his obsessive, narcissistic, selfish and eccentric behaviour. But the book helped me to understand him better, as an actor and as a person.

Questions like, what made him sign the disastrous movie ‘Wafaa’ or the Havells ad or enter politics, were answered. His failure and success was always out in open for people to scrutinize. Yet he lived his life unapologetically. That’s commendable. He was the only actor who tasted unbelievable popularity. Sadly, he wasn’t able to or didn’t know how to handle success or failure.

I think his life served as a template for other upcoming actors to learn from. At one point in the book, it is mentioned that Rajesh Khanna once admitted, “I didn’t have the reference point. Today Amitabh has me as a reference. There was never a star before me. I admit that I made mistakes. But you can’t blame me. I thought that the kind of success I enjoyed could never ever end. ”

To conclude, Salim Khan’s words sums it well, “Nobody really knew Rajesh Khanna. But this book comes the closest to understanding him.”

[Laya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The man is sabotage max. Both to himself and others. Well- researched and written like a page-turning read, but the author got a bit carried away at some places.Very grey character, and the author did try to maintain a balanced account despite his bias. But I wish he did consider more about the viewpoint from the women in his life.

What can never be put to doubt tho was RK as a phenomenon. The charm of his peak phase can be observed quiet clearly from old movies playing on TV and internet itself. To imagine that being contemporary and on a huge screen.. no wonder he whipped up the frenzy. I reaally wish to rewind the clock and see the 'never before never again' mass hysteria he generated. Had a suspicion it was exaggerated but hearing the numerous accounts of his peak fame makes me very curious.

[Kuljinder Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent book

[Bulbul · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is better than Rekha : The Untold story and touches important incidents in Rajesh Khanna's life. But the psycho analysis and calling him 'lonely' was a bit too much. People have judged him negatively because he kept to himself. He was an introvert and many times people didn't understand that. Yasser could have stuck to the facts instead of trying to analyse what went on in his mind.

[Roubeena Jeetah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took my sweet time reading this one. Knew Rajesh Khanna from his evergreen songs and movies, but discovered his true, heartbreaking facet. You can have it all and still be so lonely...

[Alok · Rating 2 out of 5]

Growing up on the regular dose of Hindi cinema golden era hits that DD National used to telecast on Friday nights and Sunday evenings, I was aware of Rajesh Khanna as one of the greatests of the bygone era. It was only after I read this book that I understood the extent of stardom he saw in those 3-5 years.

This guy effectively dethroned 'the legendary trio' and brought in a new wave and style in Hindi cinema. Its totally possible that the tune that you were humming a few moments ago was lip-synced by this fine gentleman decades ago.

By the end of 1970 Rajesh Khanna’s stature had become even bigger. It is said that Dharmendra was the only star who was not majorly affected by the storm of Khanna’s success. Apart from him, most of the established stars like Rajendra Kumar, Manoj Kumar and Shammi Kapoor were almost out of the race. The Dilip–Dev–Raj trio were still around, but they were doing selective work and had their loyal fans from the previous generation backing them.

His rise on the scene was exhilaratingly meteoric, a success that might have numbed anyone's senses.

Film journalist Monojit Lahiri, who witnessed the mass hysteria surrounding Rajesh Khanna first-hand, wrote in one of his articles on the 1970s: ‘I can only say that one had to experience the Rajesh wave to fully understand its impact. It was truly unbelievable. No Dilip, Raj, Dev, Shammi, Rajendra—or later Big B or the Khans—can ever hope to match it for the sheer passion and intensity that powered it. It was mass hysteria on a continuous overdrive, associated normally with rock stars of the iconic stature of Elvis, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson.’

Ladies used to pay visits to beauty salons before attending Rajesh Khanna's matinee shows. If you want to put this in context, people used to leave their footwear at the entry gates of the cinema hall for the shows of Jai Santoshi Maa, as they felt it was their duty to appear appropriately even in front of the image of the goddess.

Social commentator Santosh Desai explains the secret of Khanna’s success with women: ‘He brought women closer to the imagined ideal of what cultural psychologist Sudhir Kakar calls a “two-person” universe that exists between a man and a woman... His romantic style was based on thoughtful attention communicated through gaze rather than touch’.2 He promised a deeper understanding, attractiveness and vulnerability. Desai insightfully says that Rajesh Khanna exhibited the more poetic side of masculinity—an actor who poetically deals with the issues and emotions of life. Perhaps this was the reason Rajesh Khanna stood out in his performances when it came to the song sequences.

But his success was no ordinary success. He was hailed as the 'first Hindi cinema superstar', someone who induced hysteria among the masses. He had no dearth of fame or fortune. But fame is a fickle friend.

According to the theories of the evolution of the universe, there are the really massive stars and the low mass stars. A really massive star will burn out relatively quickly and end up as a supernova—a tremendous explosion that will leave a black hole in its wake. On the other hand, a low mass star, like our sun, may take billions of years to use up its fuel and then die relatively very quietly by slowly shedding its outer layers. In short, the more massive a star, the shorter its lifespan. It is not an exaggeration to apply this same analogy to a superstar like Rajesh Khanna.

Coming to writing, I didn't particularly enjoy the drafting and editing style of the author. Or it's possible that the third person narration didn't quite indulge me. He could have afforded to experiment there and Khanna's life had enough twists and turns to have supported any new style. He showed promise in the last two chapters, but by then it was too late, too little.

Khanna's life is sum total of a dream rise followed into a quintessential tragedy. For an observer, its something both desirable and dreadful at the same time. From his birth through adolescence, success, failure and demise, the man has both his hands full, however one with boon, and the other with an equally intense bain.

What impressed me though is that despite all his mistakes and flaws, the man kept fighting, through thick and thin, with demons that were within and those that were external. What a life he lived!!

[Maganraj Bafna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rajesh Khanna was known in the Indian film industry as 'The Phenomenon'

In the year 1965 Rajesh Khanna won the All India Talent Contest, organised by the United Producers and Filmfare. He was one among the eight finalists chosen from more than 10,000 contestants, the other finalists included Vinod Mehra, Farida Jalal, Leena Candravarkar, Subhash Ghai and Dheeraj Kumar among others. There had been a few talent contests in the past, but what set this one apart was that the winner would get cast as the lead in a film produced by each member of the jury.
Rajesh Khanna was a star waiting to happen. Khanna's first few films after his debut in 1966 didn't make a dent at the box office. But 'Aradhana' changed all that and the film industry was shell-shocked at the kind of response 'Aradhana' got. From 'Aradhana' to 'Haathi Mere Saathi' Khanna delivered fifteen consecutive super hit films. The combination of commercial success and critical acclaim signalled the arrival of new phase in Khanna's career, the madness of Khanna's streak of success between 1969 and 1972 can be ascertained from the fact that he was the first Hindi film star to have golden jubilee hits in cities like Madras, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Everything he touched turned to gold with each film of his becoming a bigger hit than the one preceding it.
Khanna would be mystified by his own success, its clear that the kind of euphoria Khanna inspired couldn't have lasted forever. The law of averages finally caught up with him and Khanna delivered six straight flops towards the end of 1972. The failure of 'Mere Jeevan Saathi' of all the flops in 1972 can be seen as heralding the end of the Rajesh Khanna blitzkrieg at the box office for all times. By all considerations 'mere jeevan saathi' should have been a sure-fire success what with the classical music and patented khanna mannerisms. Its failure shook the film industry. Like his success, his failure too was being seen as something unparalleled. No other actor had posed a serious threat to Khanna's stardom since he burst upon the scene. In the course of those three years of extraordinary run from 1969 to 1972, he ensured the end of the Dev Anand - Raj Kapoor - Dilip Kumar era and also wiped out Shammi Kapoor and Rajendra Kumar's career.
By the time 1972 came to an end, success which had come to him almost in the blink of an eye was threatening to abandon him with the same lightning speed. No one could have imagined that things would change beyond recognition for Khanna, but Hindi cinema's first superstar had already begun his downward spiral and he wasn't even thirty.
Unlike bigger icons and stars, 'Rajesh Khanna's claim to greatness basically lies in his achievements over a period of barely three years between 1969-1972. Surely there's no other actor who can make the same claim on posterity.

[DALIP · Rating 4 out of 5]

For Someone who never Met leave alone interacted with the Phenomenon Superstar RAJESH KHANNÀ before, during or even after the peak era was far behind Him Nobody would have really blamed TV journalist YASSER USMAN for churning out an unauthorised biography based purely on hearsay, yarns collected from film journalists of an era past or laced with spicy and salicious rumours ..After all by His own honest admission, He just
had a fleeting glimpse of the former Phenomenon in passing in public and that was the only encounter they had..No first hand knowledge to rely on.

And Yet the research hard work and meetings He conducted spanning across over two years to pen this bestseller is indeed praiseworth and amply reflects in the biography. Of the 323 Pages in the book almost 40 Pages are devoted to the acknowledgement and thanks to all the people the author diligently tapped to bring alive the book in it's final shape..The hard work reflects in the end product. If only He could have coerced the real players like Estranged wife DIMPLE KAPADIA Her daughters TWINKLE & CHINKIE or AKSHAY to speak about KAKA wud have added to the book multi-fold..The only person He could get talking was The Superstars ex girlfriend ANJU MAHENDROO who has seen RAJESH KHANNÀ evolve from JATIN KHANNA to the Superstar Phenomenon to His plunging downfall and has been besides Him till His death.
The book opens with Rajesh Khanna's death being announced on news channels to his last journey goes into a flashback and culminates in his granson lighting his funeral pyre leaving behind bitter sweet memories of an Enigma called RAJESH KHANNA..Truly a well researched honest account of the Life & Times of A Superstar unlike anyone has seen before or after.

[SJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The four stars are purely for the research and information that went into this book, and not for the style or editing. Stylistically poor, the editing set my teeth on edge. But the author seems to have researched and gathered information, as well as tried to analyze why his subject behaved as he did. I always felt that behind the glamour, RK was a very lonely man. He seemed to have operated purely by his own instincts, without genuine advice or feedback. My suspicion that he was surrounded mostly by self-serving sycophants and family and friends who didn't give a damn has been confirmed by the information in the book. It's a sad story of an extraordinary and complex man, and whatever his flaws, he will always be an immense star and a cinematic legend. When he died, I hoped his family, or the state, would turn Ashirwaad into a museum of the Hindi film industry, but my hope was misplaced. I was witness to RK's meteoric rise. I've never seen anything like it anywhere in my fifty odd years. I remember watching Amar Prem in Kuala Lumpur, the week it released, standing the whole time in a jam-packed theater. I remember watching a huge crowd run after him in Singapore in the 70s, and I remember his smile filling the screen and audience's hearts in Aradhana. Rajesh Khanna will be remembered long after the others have become a hazy memory.

[Jawahar Surti · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

I read this and subsequently also skimmed through Gautam Chintamani's book on the actor - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

I grew up in the era and have seen the madness and hysteria that RK created. No one before and no one after him was able to achieve that feat - in the sense that he has been the only actor who rapidly rose to height giving 15 consecutive hits in just 2 years. Other actors have ruled longer, more consistently perhaps but no one attained the peak in the manner he attained. That much you have to give him. As a person he was perhaps eccentric, arrogant, paranoid, possessive, narcissistic....
He had become the heart-throb of millions of women and the hysteria had to be seen and felt to be believed..

The difference I found in the 2 books is mainly about the analysis of the person which I think Yasser Usman has done quite well. The other book mainly touches on only the timeline and events and movie details without author's own perception ( well, a little leaning towards the actor).

[Anirudha Bhattacharjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book written with lot of heart. And hard work. Best part about Yasser is that he has written without any claims of being either an expert on a fan. The story is told in a manner most neutral. Lots of facets which were unknown about the star, especially his childhood and adolescence, have been covered.

Incidentally, I had been offered to write on the star by a big publication house. I refused, simply because I was not convinced about my knowledge level about Rajesh Khanna as a human being. Yasser has worked on that aspect very well. Kudos to him for that.

Minor nitpicking. Seems he had to hurry to close the project in a short time frame, as this was a bilingual. Excerpts referenced from magazines and book(s) are often verbatim. Wish he had worked on that, while keeping the essence intact.

[Himanshu · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is always difficult to write a biography and more so in India when a natural feeling of obeisance towards the subject, inhibits people from opening up. Rajesh Khanna or Kaka as he was known to his countless fans was the first and perhaps the biggest movie superstar which India has seen. Now before one Mr Khan aka bhaijaan's fans lynch me, this was written by bhaijaan's father in the book. This book covers life of Kaka and puts up a vain attempt to try and portray him in a shade less obnoxious than he was in his real life. But readers of this genre and those in know of the hypocrisy prevalent in B'wood will figure this out soon.

The writing style is simple and easily readable.

[Dippak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have seen his charisma and popularity he gained is unique....liked to read about his golden days but saddened to read about his last few years....he was and is still superstar of Bollywood...no one has achieved what he has achieved.....hats off to my hero , my super duper star...

I have seen his charisma and popularity he gained is unique...liked to read about his golden days but saddened to read about after years of his golden era...he was and will always be remembered as truely super star of Bollywood...no one has achieved what he has achieved....hats off to him....

[Sujan Azad Parikh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written in a very nice way. The way of depicting the story is very natural. Many aspects of life of Rajesh Khanna has been shown since his childhood to becoming a star. Its very difficult for a star to keep the pace and momentum. From having the distinction of being a super star to the way he spend his last years was really painful. Overall a very nice book for those who like to read the biographies.

[Harshvardhan Baxi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it's a fascinating read, i can write a lot of personal stuff here (about how this book impacted me) but it's nice to know that it's alright to admit to being flawed & imperfect, to admit to one's shortcomings & complexities. Even in his death, Rajesh Khanna has taught me a vital lesson on loneliness. I don't think i would ever feel this emotional about a star. Rest in peace sir, you will always be a king. Thank You Yasser Usman.

[Tushar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Good book to read.This book throws light on Rajesh Khanna's life.This book tells how he got the superstar status and then after getting superstar status, he could not handle so much success and then his downfall begun.This book tells all of this.

[Neela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just loved it ! Very well written.

[D Kamboj · Rating 3 out of 5]

balanced and dispassionate account of the life of India's first movies' superstar

[Jaikaran Johal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book have many secrets and facts about rajesh khanna that were never known to us before and tells how the epic stardom came to the ground , and many life twists.

[Sumit · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a Rajesh Khanna fan and reading about him is sheer pleasure.

[Shubham Tiwari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book. Makes me want to revisit every Rajesh Khanna blockbuster all over again. Can't wait to get my hands on Yasser Usman's other books.

[Alpi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a big fan of THE SUPERSTAR, I might be partial, but it's among the best books I've ever read, feeling a personal bond with the contents.

[Kumar Dev]

Very good

[Prasanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only book which takes you down the memory line of the first indian superstar
The book won't bore you at all .
The must read to understand what superstar meant then in India.

[arpan sahni · Rating 4 out of 5]

A balanced biography that captures the spirit of the complex man and the star who could never come to terms with his faded glory!

[Girish Querido II · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterpiece. Must read!

[Amit Talpade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Outsiders rule the Indian film industry. Upstarts coming from anonymity they lead the pack. The first of such was Rajesh Khanna, The book does offer many insights about his life but only superficially but despite that is a decent read.