Rajesh Khanna, the heartthrob of his era, fell deeply in love with Dimple Kapadia. Mesmerised by her charm, Rajesh proposed marriage to her, and Dimple said yes. They married in 1973 and soon had two lovely daughters, Twinkle and Rinke Khanna. At just 15, Dimple was nearly half Rajesh’s age when they tied the knot.
Dimple Kapadia was on the brink of stardom when she abruptly left her acting career. She starred in just one film before spending the next decade focused on raising her daughters with the late superstar Rajesh Khanna. During that time, their marriage fell apart, and in the 1980s, Dimple walked out with Twinkle Khanna and Rinke Khanna. In a 1990 interview with Amitabh Bachchan, the two actors discussed rumours that they’d pressured their wives to stop working.
Rajesh Khanna revealed that when Twinkle was old enough, he urged her to follow in his footsteps. But she questioned why she could act while her mother couldn’t. He said, “I had no problems about my wife working. But when I married Dimple, I wanted a mother for my children. I didn’t want them to be brought up by servants. And I had no idea of Dimple’s talent; Bobby was still not released. Recently, when I told one of my daughters Twinkle, that if she would like to act in a film, I would produce one for her. She said, ‘You will let me act but to mummy you say no.’ I said, ‘For the simple reason that I am your father and not your husband.’”
Rajesh Khanna said that if he had known Dimple Khanna’s talent would shine in Bobby, he wouldn’t have stopped her for it would have been “cruel”. He added, “Besides, if I knew at that moment that Bobby would prove her talent, I wouldn’t have stopped her. To curb talent is cruel. By the time I saw Bobby our first daughter was already born.”
Over years, their relationship soured, leading to a separation in 1982. Though they never officially divorced, their split made headlines. Rajesh Khanna passed away in 2012.
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