‘Main kya karunga?’: How Rajesh Khanna almost said no to Sharmila Tagore's Aradhana, the film that made him India’s first superstar

In 1965, Rajesh Khanna won a prestigious Talent Contest and was signed for a 12-film deal by United Producers, which included G P Sippy, Shakti Samanta and B R Chopra. One of those films was Aradhana—ironically, the very project that would turn him into a phenomenon Hindi cinema had never witnessed before.

‘Main kya karunga?’: How Rajesh Khanna almost said no to Sharmila Tagore's Aradhana, the film that made him India’s first superstar
In 1965, Rajesh Khanna won a prestigious Talent Contest and was signed for a 12-film deal by United Producers, which included G P Sippy, Shakti Samanta and B R Chopra. One of those films was Aradhana—ironically, the very project that would turn him into a phenomenon Hindi cinema had never witnessed before.