When Rajesh Khanna tied the knot with Dimple Kapadia, fans who had married his photo wore white to symbolise widowhood: 'Hordes of women were heartbroken'

In 1973, Dimple Kapadia was just 16 years old and poised for a dream debut in Raj Kapoor’s 'Bobby opposite Rishi Kapoor. While she attained stardom with the film, life had other plans for her. The actress soon got married to Rajesh Khanna and stopped doing movies.

As recounted in Bombay Superstar, Dimple was unaware of a private conversation between her father and the man who would soon become her husband, Rajesh Khanna. The first public hint came when Khanna himself called his journalist friend Devi in the middle of the night, teasing “the scoop of the century.” Word of their engagement spread almost instantly.

On the wedding day, Khanna made an unannounced visit to his young nephew Rajeev’s classroom, sweeping him and his sister away to shop for outfits for the evening ceremony. “I couldn’t believe he was getting married,” Rajeev remembered. “I kept asking him if it was for real.”

The event quickly became the year’s biggest social buzz, leaving Khanna’s female admirers n dismay. Khanna was called the first superstar of Hindi cinema and one has often heard stories of how his female fans were in awe of him. Some journalists of those times have also witnessed that Khanna's car was filled with lipstick marks as fans would kiss his car. In his biography, 'Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna', author Gautam Chintamani said, “Hordes of women were left heartbroken. Some of them went into a state of shock while some who had previously ‘married’ his photographs decided to wear white to symbolise widowhood!”

Khanna’s aunt, Madhu Talwar, recalled that the wedding unfolded exactly as the superstar envisioned. But reality soon intruded — the honeymoon was delayed so Dimple could complete Bobby. Khanna had been clear from the start that he wanted a homemaker, not an actress. Dimple agreed, stepping away from her career after her debut.

However, there was trouble in their marriage and Dimple admitted to have realised that the day she entered his house. Soon, the duo got separated and Dimple moved out of his house with their daugthers Twinkle and Rinke. They lived apart but never got legally divorced. Despite their estrangement, Dimple stood by him during his toughest moments — including in 2012, when she was at his side as he lost his battle with cancer.