Bollywood actress Dimple Kapadia poses during the unveiling of a statue of her late husband, Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna, in Mumbai.
Bollywood actress Dimple Kapadia yesterday called for naming a road in memory of her late husband Rajesh Khanna, who is considered Bollywood’s original superstar.
Kapadia, the estranged wife of Khanna, made the request to Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajeev Shukla, who was present at the unveiling of a statue of the legendary actor here.
“He (Rajesh Khanna) was a Congress man. My request is that a road or a ‘marg’ be named after him. The ideal tribute would be to name Carter Road after him,” Kapadia said at a press conference here.
Khanna spent a major part of his life at his villa Aashirwad in Carter Road. He died at the iconic residence on July 18, 2012 due to prolonged illness.
Shukla said he would take up the matter of naming a road after the actor, who gave five decades of life to entertaining movie buffs.
“His work and contribution was immense. I will take this wish up with the urban development ministry and see if a road can be named. He was a great parliamentarian and a very popular person.
“The concept of the superstar was started by him. Regarding Carter Road, I will have to talk to the chief minister if it has not been named after (music director) Naushad Ali-ji,” he said.
Carter Road was reportedly renamed after Naushad Ali in 2008.
Besides Kapadia, the event was attended by daughter Twinkle Khanna, son-in-law Akshay Kumar, and other industry members.
The statue will be placed at the Walk of the Stars at the Bandra Bandstand Promenade.
The statue is made of brass and signifies an iconic pose from Khanna’s Anand film. It features him holding a bunch of balloons. It will be installed along with statues of icons like Yash Chopra, Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand and Shammi Kapoor.
Other guests present at the unveiling included Asha Parekh, Mithun Chakraborty, Rakesh Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Jeetendra and Anju Mahendru among others.