Grandson Aarav lights Rajesh Khanna’s pyre!

It was an emotional farewell for superstar Rajesh Khanna as his last rites were performed at the Vile Parle crematorium on Thursday amidst family, friends and fans who had thronged to catch a last glimpse of the legendary actor. Nine-year-old Aarav lit his grandfather’s pyre along with his father, actor Akshay Kumar.

The actor’s body was placed in a transparent casket on a mini-truck decorated with white flowers. All throughout the journey, fans thronged the roads to catch a last glimpse of the superstar. His estranged wife, actor Dimple Kapadia, daughter Rinke and her husband Samir Saran and Akshay were present. His elder daughter, Twinkle who is pregnant with her second child was missing from the procession.

The actor’s funeral procession started from his Carter Road residence Aashirwad in Bandra at 10 in the morning. The procession went through Turner Road and SV Road before reaching the crematorium. Though the procession was apparently originally planned along  a longer route, it had to be cut short as it was raining incessantly. But this didn’t stop the fans from attending it and they were gathered in huge numbers all along. The crowds in a sombre mood followed the superstar amidst tight security along the roads. While a group of women in their mid-fifties were seen crying as they hummed the actor’s evergreen song Zindagi Ek Safar, there were a couple of fans who were seen paying a tribute to the star in their own way by dressing up in the actor’s style.

Those who did not take to the roads are known to have been glued to their TV sets catching the procession live. In B-Town, many shootings were also cancelled for the day, as were the events earlier. Many of those who were unable to attend the procession took to the microblogging site Twitter, talking about being glued to their TV sets watching the superstar’s last journey. Amitabh Bachchan with son Abhishek, Sudhir Mishra, Rani Mukerji, Karan Johar, Sajid Khan, Vinod Khanna were amongst the many celebrities who were spotted paying their respects at his last rites.