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Rajesh Khanna, was titled as the first superstar of India. The late actor had a record of delivering 17 superhits back-to-back. However, when he was in the middle of his streak, working day and night, basking superstardom, he reportedly started signing films without reading its scripts. Once, the actor signed a film and even took home the signing amount of Rs 5 lakh. However, later he realised that the film was in fact ‘terrible.’ But, he still didn’t back out as he was paid a massive check of Rs 9 lakh. Rajesh stuck by his responsibility and finished the film, but only after one condition that writers would sit and redo the script again.
Yasser Usman’s book, Rajesh Khanna: The Untold Story of India’s First Superstar, revealed that the only reason why the actor didn’t back out because he was trying to buy the sea-facing bungalow named Aashirwaad. For the unversed, the lavish house belonged to the yesteryear star Rajendra Kumar. Rajesh had to put together a massive amount so that he could purchase his house.
During that period, Rajesh Khanna was offered a film Hathi Mere Saathi by producer Chinnappa Devar. The actor without thinking further said yes to the film because he was offered a staggering amount in advance.
Actor Dheeraj Kumar once shared in Rajesh Khanna’s autobiography that while he was enjoying the signing amount, he was left shocked when he first read the script. He was saddened and called the legendary duo Salim-Javed to rework on the script. “He took a lot of money when he signed the film. When he read the script later and got to know about Devar’s Tamil films, he got scared. He called me and said, ‘This is a terrible script. I could have rejected it outright, but I have taken a huge amount.’ I think he needed money to buy a house and a new car. So he took more than his market price. I think it was Rs 9 lakh, which was Rs 4 lakh more than his market price at that time. And Rs 5 lakh was the signing amount.” Dheeraj mentioned.
Salim-Javed changed everything accept the film’s title. Hence, the end result kept ‘Kaka’s’ streak of superhits unbroken and gave Salim-Javed one of the earlier hits. Following the film’s success, Rajesh Khanna was able to buy the bungalow and named it ‘Aashirwaad’, which was his father’s wish.
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