'Rajesh Khanna didn't nurture his stardom just like his friendships,' says Sharmila Tagore: 'He allowed it to slip'

Time of India

14-07-2025

Rajesh Khanna
, often hailed as India's first true superstar, took the nation by storm with his magnetic charm, striking looks, and carefully chosen film roles in the early phase of his career. At the height of his fame, he became a cultural phenomenon—his hairstyle became iconic, and the name 'Kaka' was etched into pop culture.
Female fans adored him, and he enjoyed a fandom unlike anything seen before. But while his rise was meteoric, his fall was equally dramatic.
Sharmila Tagore
, who shared the screen with him in several memorable films, offered candid reflections on Khanna's life in the foreword of Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna, a biography by Gautam Chintamani. In the book, she revealed why she believed Khanna's stardom slipped through his fingers.
'Like his friendships, Kaka didn't nurture his stardom and allowed it to slip from his grasp. He failed to notice that the audience was changing, and that the roles he had been doing were becoming less and less relevant. Kaka either couldn't or didn't reinvent himself to remain contemporary; so much so that he became almost a caricature of himself, and people began to mock him,' she wrote.
Tagore also pointed out how Khanna's generosity, though admirable, sometimes backfired.
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He was known to shower friends with lavish gifts, including apartments. But, she noted, 'in return, he expected far too much which ended up putting a strain on the relationship.'
Her reflections didn't stop at the professional front. Sharmila spoke honestly about some of the challenges she faced while working with the superstar—particularly his tendency to show up late on set. 'But what affected me personally was his habit of coming late to work.
I went to the studios at 8.00 a.m. and wanted to be back with my family by 8.00 p.m. But this was impossible, since Kaka never arrived before 12.00 noon for a 9.00 a.m.
shift. And we could never finish on time. As a result, the entire unit would pressurize me to work overtime and complete the schedule. This became the norm, and since I had many films with Kaka, I found myself in a quandary,' she wrote.
Through her words, Sharmila painted a vivid picture—not just of a superstar who once ruled the silver screen, but of a complex, sometimes flawed man who couldn't quite navigate the changing tides of fame and relationships.