50 Years Of Aradhana: When Rajesh Khanna Was Cast As The Hero, Ashim Samanta Says Friends Thought His Father, Director Shakti Samanta, Had Gone Bankrupt!

50 years ago, on this very day, Rajesh Khanna andSharmila Tagore starrer Aradhana had released. Well, there is an interesting story behind that as well. Aradhana had released on 30^th October 1969 in Delhi only and saw a theatrical release in other parts of India, including Bombay, on 7^th November. This was the film that gave Rajesh Khanna the instant fame and it was after this film that he was referred to as the ‘First Superstar Of India’. But did you know that when director Shakti Samanta’s son, Ashim Samanta, told his friends that his father was making a film with Rajesh Khanna, his friends thought that Shakti Samanta had gone bankrupt because he could not cast a popular actor?

Even though Rajesh Khanna’s debut film had been India’s first official entry into the Oscars, it was with Aradhana that he got recognition throughout the country. In an interaction with Cinestaan, Aradhana’s director, Shakti Samanta’s son Ashim Samanta revealed that both Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore were hesitant to do it, but they still signed the film. It was also about to be scrapped before being made, but was done once writer Gulshan Nanda stepped in. In fact, such was the constraint in budget that Roop Tera Mastana was shot in a single take. The fact that Rajesh Khanna is doing the film also made many think that Shakti Samanta is running low on budget. Ashim revealed,

"I remember I was in school and my friends asked me what film Dad was making. I told them Aradhana with Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore and they said, ‘Has your father become bankrupt [as he is not taking a big male star]’? And I said, ‘No, no, he is making Jaane Anjane with Shammi Kapoor after that’, and they said, ‘Oh, then it’s fine’. But the irony is that Jaane Anjane didn’t do well at the box office while Aradhana became a superhit.”

In fact, he even attended the premiere in Bombay (now Mumbai) and remember that while at the start of the show, no one bothered about Rajesh Khanna, there were around 500 people surrounding him during the interval. He said,

“The film was first released in Delhi on 31 October and on 7 November, it was released in Bombay and other places. I remember attending the premiere. I was studying in the 10th standard at the time. When the film started, nobody even looked at Rajesh Khanna. He was not a star. But at the interval, there were about 500 people surrounding him. By the interval, he had become a star!”

Well, when you are destined to fame, no one can stop it, isn’t it?