When Dimple Kapadia Felt 'Shattered' After Marrying Rajesh Khanna: 'I Thought He Would...'

Dimple Kapadia’s early romance with superstar Rajesh Khanna was a story straight out of a Bollywood film. As a teenager, Dimple was captivated by Rajesh and their whirlwind marriage led her to step away from the limelight for a period. Reflecting on her youthful naivety in an interview, Dimple confessed that she had an almost cinematic vision of their romance. She imagined Rajesh serenading her with “Mere Sapno Ki Raani” amidst picturesque mountains.

During a talk at the FICCI FLO Jaipur Chapter, Dimple humorously recounted this fantasy. She said, “I was such a filmy kid. I actually thought Rajesh Khanna ji would sing ‘Mere Sapno Ki Rani Kab Aayegi Tu’ to me in the mountains. He will take me there and sing.”

Laughing at her own innocence, Dimple admitted she was quite young and heavily influenced by movies. “I swear I am not lying, because I was so young. And there was such an impact of the movies. So when we reached the mountains and there was no song, no gust of wind, I was devastated. My dream was shattered. I seriously believed it. How dumb can you get? But well, that was me,” she said, chuckling at the memory.

During the same conversation, Dimple Kapadia was asked about her best role in life. She responded with heartfelt sincerity, “The best role of my life has been Mrs. Rajesh Khanna. That’s been my best role.” Dimple and Rajesh shared nearly eight years together before they separated, though they never divorced. The couple had two daughters, Twinkle and Rinke Khanna.

Reflecting on her love story with Rajesh, Dimple revealed that their romance began shortly after she signed the film “Bobby.” At the time, Dimple was only 13 years old and Rajesh was 15 years her senior. She recalled that after signing Raj Kapoor’s film, she, along with other film celebrities, was invited to a function in Ahmedabad. Rajesh was on the same flight, and fate placed them next to each other.

“So he sat next to me, and I was looking at him. Very cleverly, I told him, ‘Vahan toh bohot crowd hoga, bheed hogi, aap mera haath pakdoge na?’ He said, ‘Haan bilkul.’ I said, ‘Hamesha ke liye?’ (There will be so much crowd there, will you hold my hand? He said yes, of course. I asked forever?) I was very filmy and yeah, the rest is history. It happened.”