By:
Subhash
K.
Jha,
IndiaFM
Tuesday,
January
02,
2007
Legends
don't
die.
But
they
sometimes
fade
away.
And
that's
worse
than
death
especially
when
they've
known
the
kind
of
super-stardom
that
Rajesh
Khanna
experienced
between
1969
and
1974.
Between
Aradhana
and
Aap
Ki
Kasam.
I
should
know.
During
my
school
and
college
days
I
was
a
major
Khanna
fan...
watched
every
film
of
his
at
least
thrice...
loved
Sharmila
Tagore
and
Mumtaz
only
because
RK
seemed
to
jell
so
well
with
him.
I
was
first-hand
witness
to
his
stardom.
And
trust
me;
in
all
my
years
as
a
film
person
I've
never
seen
such
hysteria
for
anyone.
There
was
a
time
in
the
early
1970s
when
virtually
every
theatre
in
town
screened
Rajesh
Khanna
films.
I
even
remember
their
names:
Kati
Patang,
Anand,
Do
Raaste
and
Haathi
Mere
Saathi...
all
jubilee
hits,
all
playing
side
by
side...
And
then
it
was
all
gone.
Mr
Khanna
lost
it
all.
Super-stardom,
family,
friends,
self-confidence...Today
he
lives
in
abject
isolation.
There's
nothing
more
heart-breaking
than
to
see
your
idol
with
defeat
of
clay.
What
do
you
do
with
the
legends
when
they
are
in
oblivion?
"The
best
way
to
avoid
that
almost-inevitable
heartbreak
of
disenchantment
is
to
not
come
face-to-face
with
your
idols.
You
nurture
a
certain
image
of
them.
And
the
reality
is
bound
to
be
far
removed
from
your
image.
This
is
why
I've
chosen
not
to
meet
my
absolutely
idol
Lata
Mangeshkarji.
I'd
rather
connect
with
her
singing
than
to
meet
the
person
behind
the
voice," says
my
friend
Sanjay
Bhansali.
Do
your
idols
always
disappoint
you?
Not
necessarily!
As
a
teenager
I
was
completely
besotted
with
Shabana
Azmi...
still
continue
to
be!
When
I
met
her
for
the
first
time
in
1986
she
was
at
the
peak
of
her
career.
I
still
remember
how
generous
and
warm
she
was,
and
how
tolerant
of
my
nervous
volubility.
"Aap
mujhe
bhi
kuch
bolne
denge?" she
had
chided
me
with
her
Mona
Lisa
smile
when
I
insisted
on
jabbering
incessantly.
Would
my
idol
have
fallen
off
her
pedestal
if
she
had
been
patronizing
and
arrogant?
I've
been
singularly
lucky
with
the
legends.
They
have
invariably
turned
out
to
be
every
bit
an
embodiment
of
their
mythical
image.
I
thought
I'd
never
meet
Lata
Mangeshkar.
I
thought
she
could
never
possibly
live
up
to
the
reputation
and
talent
that
I
had
grown
up
with.
I
remember
my
first
call
to
her
with
trembling
hands.
Fumbling
over
my
words,
disbelieving
that
I
was
actually
speaking
to
the
single-most
talented
woman
God
had
every
created,
I
spoke
to
the
Nightingale...
and
never
looked
back.
Over
the
years
I've
discovered
her
to
be
simple
unspoilt
and
great
fun
to
be
with...
In
our
first
meeting
she
had
me
in
splits
when
she
described
a
vain
and
self-absorbed
actor
as
an
'I
Specialist'.
"Never
stop
to
think
about
your
success.
Never
get
carried
away
and
never
take
yourself
seriously," that's
the
formulaic
mantra
of
Lataji's
uninterrupted
superstardom
for
sixty
years.
Lataji
shares
this
trait
with
that
other
legend
Dev
Anand.
You
can
laugh
about
his
failed
attempts
at
filmmaking
in
recent
times.
You
can
sneer
at
him
for
continuing
to
make
films
long
after
his
prime.
But
you
can't
take
away
from
Dev
Saab's
unique
ability
to
connect
with
people.
Every
time
I
speak
to
the
legendary
Dev
Anand
he
makes
me
feel
ten
feet
tall
with
his
generous
comments.
To
be
able
to
look
beyond
your
own
startling
success
and
to
reach
out
to
people
as
fellow-human-beings
rather
than
a
swarm
of
deifying
fans...
that's
what
makes
a
legend
stay
that
way.
Look
at
Amitabh
Bachchan.
Having
known
him
from
fairly
close
quarters
I
can
vouch
for
this
living
legend's
utter
disregard
for
vanity
and
self-promotion.
He
hates
flatterers
and
generally
keeps
away
from
people
who
keep
reminding
him
of
how
great
a
celebrity
he
owns.
"I
don't
take
appellations
like
'superstar'
and
'icon'
seriously
at
all.
I've
gone
through
a
lean
phase
(late
1990s)
when
producers
had
stopped
knocking
on
my
door.
I
know
I
can
lose
it
all
in
one
minute.
And
I'm
prepared
for
the
downslide,"
says
the
amazing
AB.
I
think
that's
where
Rajesh
Khanna
went
wrong.
Constantly
surrounded
by
sycophants
and
yes-men
Mr
Khanna
began
believing
in
his
own
myth.
He
took
his
success
so
seriously
that
he
forgot
it
was
as
temporary
as
you
make
it
out
to
be.
He
was
surrounded
by
people
who
flattered
him
out
of
all
objective
assessment
of
his
success.
The
downslide
was
sudden
swift
and
irreversible.
No
one
wanted
to
give
Rajesh
Khanna
a
second
chance,
not
even
Rajesh
Khanna.
I
didn't
want
to
meet
this
idol
from
my
adolescence
who
played
such
a
large
hand
in
being
a
friend
and
companion
in
my
formative
years
when
I
was
confused
lonely
and
disoriented.
That's
what
legends
do.
They
jump
out
of
their
pedestals
and
fill
your
hearts
with
sunshine.
Two
years
ago
I
had
one
opportunity
to
speak
to
Rajesh
Khanna
when
his
publicist
called
and
asked
me
if
I
wanted
to
speak
to
him.
Since
the
former
icon
was
sitting
close
by
I
couldn't
say
no.
I
reluctantly
spoke
to
my
one-time
idol.
"Sir
I'm
a
big
fan
of
yours,"
I
blurted
out
to
the
mega-star
who
rocked
Bollywood
even
before
the
terms
mega-star
and
Bollywood
were
invented.
And
then,
confused
and
embarrassed
I
quickly
hung
up.
Legends
are
what
they
are
not
because
of
who
they
are
but
what
they
do.
Sooner
or
later
the
karmic
cycle
catches
up
with
the
best
of
them.
It
takes
a
Lata
Mangeshkar
or
Amitabh
Bachchan
to
defy
the
cycle
of
success
and
failure.