‘Mera Ghar Bikwana…’: Rajesh Khanna was in big debt but he refused to sell his Aashirwad bungalow to Salman Khan’s brother due to…
Bollywood’s first superstar, Rajesh Khanna was popular for his films, controversial life, and his bungalow. You’d be surprised to note that Rajesh Khanna also went through a financial crisis. Yes, it is the same bungalow whose name was ‘Aashirwad’. Originally, this bungalow was first bought by Bharat Bhushan, and he became a very big star by living in that bungalow.
How did Rajesh Khanna end up buying the Aashirwad bungalow?
In Rajesh Khanna’s biography, ‘Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna’, written by Gautam Chintamani, reveals how Bollywood’s first superstar bought the magnificent Aashirwad bungalow. But even during his financial crisis, he refused to sell it. Initially, the property was owned by Rajendra Kumar. He then became a jubilee star of the film industry by living in it. His relative was Ramesh Bahl, and he was making a film named ‘The Train’ with Rajesh Khanna.
Interesting story behind Rajesh Khanna’s property
One day, Rajesh Khanna was going from Carter Road. When he saw the crowd in front of the bungalow, he asked why there was such a crowd. On this, his driver said that this is Rajendra Kumar’s bungalow. That’s it, from that day onwards, that bungalow settled in Kakaji’s mind. Rajesh Khanna asked Ramesh Bahl to get this bungalow for him somehow. On this, Ramesh Bahl told Rajendra Kumar that there is a lot of noise of vehicles here. People keep coming and going. There is no such thing as privacy; pollution is also very high. There is another bungalow behind this. It is quite big and very peaceful too. In this way, Ramesh Bahl convinced Rajendra Kumar, and then Rajendra Kumar sold that bungalow. Rajesh Khanna took this bungalow from him. Rajesh Khanna named this bungalow Aashirwad.
When Rajesh Khanna faced a financial crisis
After the sale of this bungalow, Rajendra Kumar’s stardom started fading and Rajesh Khanna’s started increasing. Seeing this, Rajendra Kumar also felt that along with the bungalow, his luck also went to Rajesh Khanna. Well, it was in 1999, 2000, and 2001 that Mr Khanna faced financial trouble. He got a notice of one crore, one and a quarter crore rupees from Income Tax.
When Salman Khan was interested in buying Rajesh Khanna’s property
Meanwhile, one day Rajesh Khanna got a call from Salman Khan. He asked Rumi Jaffery that he had an important work with Rajesh Khanna. Salman Khan requested Rumi to help him purchase Rajesh Khanna’s property. It was Sohail Khan who was interested in buying Rajesh Khanna’s property. Sohail heard that Rajesh Khanna was selling his bungalow, and he was interested in buying it. Whatever price Rajesh Khanna quoted, Sohail Khan was ready to purchase it. Sohail assured that there will be no negotiation from his side.
When Rajesh Khanna came to know about Sohail Khan’s plan on buying Aashirwad
Rumi further revealed, “When Khanna finally spoke, he asked him how he could even think of suggesting such a thing and accused him of stabbing him in his back. ‘Kakaji said, “I consider you a son-in-law aur tu mera ghar bikwana chahta hai… Sadak par lana chahta hai!” I had a tough time explaining that I was merely a postman delivering Sohail Khan’s message.”
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