MUMBAI: Even before Rajesh Khanna’s death, the fight for his legacy began. 50-year old Anita Advani sent a legal notice to the Khanna family a day before the superstar’s death claiming that she had been Rajesh Khanna’s live-in partner for more than eight years and she wanted compensation.
[quote] The late actor’s business manager has refuted Anita’s claims. “The claims that she was living with Khanna are false. There were many people who used to meet him at his house. She was one of them, but certainly not what she claims today.”[/quote]
In an interview to a tabloid last year, both Rajesh Khanna and Anita Advani had given very different versions about their relationship:
[quote]“Anita and I have been known to each other for 32 years. She was in school then. We are just friends. She is a lovely person. I am very fond of her. But we haven’t reached the stage of love”, Rajesh had said; Anita claimed that “It’s a very special, sacred relationship and I truly relish it. Unlike a normal relationship, there are no demands and expectations. This is much deeper.”[/quote]
She has sought a house to stay in and a monthly maintenance. She has also said that that she has been restrained from entering the actor’s bungalow Aashirwad on Carter Road since June this year. She says that she is not making any claims on the bungalow but that she wanted to honour his wishes of converting the bungalow into a museum. To a TV reporter outside her home she declared that “Aashirwad belongs to the public and it should be dedicated to the public only.” Rajesh Khanna’s daughters Twinkle Khanna and Rinke Khanna have expressed their desire to convert the home into a museum.
The bungalow has been at the centre of disagreements for quite some time. Son-in-law Akshay Kumar had wanted to buy the bungalow from him but Rajesh Khanna had refused to transfer the title of his prized possession to anyone else. A source close to the family has shared that Rajesh Khanna would not have wanted anyone to live in the bungalow. “I don’t think he would have approved of Anita wanting to live in the bungalow,” the source has said.
On the day of his funeral, Anita was also barred from entering the vehicle that was carrying the actor’s body to the crematorium. Eye witnesses say that Akshay had asked her to get off the hearse saying that the vehicle was for family members only. Family members, especially Dimple Kapadia, Twinkle and Akshay have been very unhappy with Anita’s interference in family matters. Sources from the industry have claimed that Anita had been seen at Rajesh Khanna’s residence and that she would accompany the actor to people’s offices. She would even visit him when he was in the hospital. If Anita can prove that Rajesh Khanna and she were indeed live-in partners and that she was not just a vistor, then she has right to maintenance. But in the absence of any proof, she has no case whatsoever.
Who is Anita Advani?
Reportedly a childhood friend of Rajesh Khanna, Anita claims to be the neice of the former president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos and his wife Imelda Marcos. Advani is reportedly a childhood friend of the yesteryear superstar. She is a businesswoman who resides in Bandra, Mumbai.
