Rajesh Khanna's birth anniversary: Nikhil Dwivedi announces biopic on country’s first superstar

Had he been alive, India's first superstar Rajesh Khanna would have been celebrating his 79th birthday today. On his birth anniversary, here's a great news that will surely bring a big smile to the faces of his fans. Actor and producer Nikhil Dwivedi has announced plans to make a biopic of Rajesh Khanna based on author Gautam Chintamani's book 'Dark Star: The Loneliness Of Being Rajesh Khanna'. In an interaction with a news agency, Nikhil shared that he is in talks with choreographer turned filmmaker Farah Khan for directing the film, which is aptly titled 'Superstar'. Nikhil said, 'Yes, I've acquired the rights to Gautam Chintamani's book, 'Dark Star', and I'm in talks with Farah Khan to make the film. That's all I can say for now. As and when any major development happens, I'll be happy to share because I'm really very excited about bringing Rajesh Khanna's story to the big screen. On the other hand, Farah Khan told the news agency, "Yes I have read Gautam's book and it's very fascinating. It's definitely an exciting story. We are in a conversation over this but I cannot comment more." In the book 'Dark Star', which was published in 2014, Gautam Chintamani explores the rise and fall of one of the first superstars of Hindi cinema. The foreword of the book was written by veteran actress Sharmila Tagore. A few years ago, in a conversation with ETimes, Rajesh Khanna's close friend Prakash Rohra recalling memories of the late superstar revealed that during his last days, Khanna was positive and full of life. But on occasions, the lack of support and constant speculation about his finances did upset him. He had said, 'Rajesh Khanna lived life King Size till the very end. He was one of the most generous people I have ever met in my entire life. What media reported about him, his financial condition and relationship with his family was completely false as I was witness to whatever was going on in his life. He was full of life and was quite indifferent to what the media wrote about him. But he used to also tell me that this is the same media that had helped him during his struggling days.'