- Rajesh Khanna married Dimple Kapadia in March 1973 when she was 16 years old
- Khanna faced seven consecutive film flops, leading to a public emotional breakdown in 1990
- Dimple Kapadia left Khanna's home with their daughters nine years after marriage but never divorced
Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia's marriage in March 1973 had sent shockwaves across the film industry. The superstar was 31, while Dimple Kapadia was just 16 years old. Today marks Rajesh Khanna's 14th death anniversary, as old interviews resurface.
Known as the first superstar of Indian cinema, he skyrocketed to fame but could not handle success. In a 1990 interview with Movie magazine, Rajesh Khanna opened up about a dark night when he went to his terrace, drunk, and yelled at God after seven consecutive flops.
He said, "One after another, seven films had just flopped in a row. It was raining, pitch-dark, and up there alone on my terrace, I lost control. I yelled out, 'Parvardigar, hum garibon ka itna sakt imtihan na le ki hum tere wajood ko inkar kar de (God, don't test my patience to such an extent that I question your very existence).'"
He continued, "Of course, Dimple and my staff came running, thinking that I had gone insane. It was because success hit me so much that I couldn't take the failure."
Dimple Kapadia On Marrying Rajesh Khanna
Nine years after getting married to Rajesh Khanna, Dimple Kapadia left his house and moved back in with her parents along with her two daughters, Twinkle and Rinke.
Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia never divorced, but lived separately until his death in 2012.
Dimple Kapadia had opened up about their turbulent marriage in a 1994 interview with Pritish Nandy.
She said, "I think we were two very different kinds of people. And I was probably very young to understand what was happening to this man who was a superstar. I mean I have never been able to understand stars and their behaviour patterns at all because I am not one myself. It's very difficult for me to... I couldn't understand it. I just couldn't understand it."
She mentioned that the phase was indeed 'traumatic'.
Rajesh Khanna died at 69 after a prolonged battle with cancer and liver failure. He died in his iconic Mumbai bungalow, Aashirwad, located on Carter Road in Bandra, Mumbai.
ALSO READ | When Rajesh Khanna's Alleged Girlfriend Claimed He "Invited" His Own Death: 'He Would Cry All Day Long'
