Mumbai, Dec 30 (TIWN) The rise of Jatin Khanna, better known as Rajesh Khanna, Bollywood's first superstar who commanded a colossal female fan following, reflected the socio-political changes simmering in India of his time, according to his biographer, Gautam Chintamani, whose book is the starting point for Nikhil Dwivedi's just-announced biopic.

In a conversation with IANS, Chintamani shared anecdotes from the actor's life, demystified the enigma that Rajesh Khanna was and spoke about the subsequent dethroning of the actor by Amitabh Bachchan, who continues to be very much a part of India's showbiz story.  Explaining why he chose Rajesh Khanna as the subject of his book, Chintamani said: "If you think of filmstars or cultural icons such as Rajesh Khanna, then there are very few people whose life warrants to be told like a story. For me, he's someone who captured the zeitgeist, redefined it and left such a big impression that for generations, film actors have followed that template. That's what got me interested in Rajesh Khanna."