Bollywood's first superstar Rajesh Khanna passed away Wednesday
following prolonged illness. His actor son-in-law Akshay Kumar says he
has gone to a "nice and heavenly place".
"I regret to inform
everybody my father-in-law Mr. Rajesh Khanna is no more. He has gone to a
nice and heavenly place, we are happy about that. I hope everybody who
is watching this can just say a small little prayer for him," Akshay
told reporters here.
Kaka, as he was popularly known, is survived by wife Dimple Kapadia and daughters Twinkle and Rinke. He was 69.
He
had been battling with health issues for a long time, and was admitted
to the hospital in the last one month. His funeral will be held 11:30
a.m. Thursday.
The film fraternity, country's political leaders and fans remembered with great fondness the "phenomenon" that he was.
Several
celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan, Yash Chopra, Rishi Kapoor, Prem
Chopra, Abhishek Bachchan, Anu Malik, Vindu Dara Singh, Sajid Khan,
Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora Khan turned up at the actor's Bandra
residence Ashirwad.
The news of Rajesh Khanna's death came in just a week after veteran wrestler-actor Dara Singh's demise July 12.
Veteran
actor Manoj Kumar told IANS on phone: "I could not believe that he is
no more with us. Earlier it was Dara Singh, now it is Rajesh. I feel god
is upset with the industry. Rajesh was a different personality. He made
a mark for himself through his hard work."
Rajesh began his
career with "Aakhri Khat" in 1966. He became a superstar like no other
with his work in hits like "Aradhana", "Do Raaste", "Safar" and "Anand".
He was last seen in a TV commercial for Havells fans earlier this year.
Veteran actor Rajesh Khanna dead
