Rajesh Khanna

 
Khanna was born to in Amritsar on 29 December 1942. He was adopted and raised by foster parents who were relatives of his biological parents. Khanna lived in Thakurdwar near Girgaon. Khanna attended St. Sebastian’s Goan High School in Girgaum, along with his friend Ravi Kapoor, who later took the stage name Jeetendra. Their mothers were friends. Khanna gradually started taking interest in theatre and did a lot of plays in his school and college days and won many prizes in the inter college drama competitions. Khanna became a rare newcomer who struggled in his own MG sports car to get work in theatre and films in the early sixties Both friends later studied in Kishinchand Chellaram College(KC). When Jeetendra went for his first film audition, it was Khanna who tutored him. Khanna's uncle changed Khanna's first name to Rajesh when Khanna decided to join films. His friends and his wife call him Kaka



In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Khanna fell in love with the then fashion designer and actress Anju Mahendru. They were in the relationship for seven years. Mahendru states that the couple did not speak to each other for 17 years after the breakup. Later Khanna married Dimple Kapadia in 1973 and has two daughters from the marriage. Khanna and Dimple Kapadia separated in 1984 as his schedule kept him away much of the time and Dimple became interested in pursuing an acting career, and thereafter lived separately, but did not complete the divorce proceedings. In the eighties Tina Munim was romantically involved with Khanna till the time she decided to leave the industry to pursue her higher studies. Years of separation brought about mutual understanding between Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia. Reporter Dinesh Raheja stated that “the bitterness between Rajesh and Dimple washed away", noting that they are seen together at parties and that Dimple campaigned for Khanna's election and also worked in his film. Their elder daughter Twinkle Khanna, an interior decorator and a former film actress, is married to actor Akshay Kumar^] while their younger daughter Rinke Khanna, also a former Hindi film actress, is married to London-based investment banker Samir Saran