With superstar Rajesh Khanna gone, dispute out in open

Just a day after yesteryear superstar Rajesh Khanna was laid to rest, the controversy surrounding his sea-facing bungalow is coming to light.

The actor’s lover Anita Advani has sent the Khanna clan a legal notice to protect herself from possible eviction from Aashirwad, which is located off Carter Road in Bandra, and, it is said, may soon be converted into Rajesh Khanna Museum.

The notice invokes the Domestic Violence Act, and was sent on Tuesday, the eve of his demise. Section 19 of the act bars the family from “dispossessing or in any other manner disturbing the possession of the aggrieved person from the shared household, whether or not the respondent has a legal or equitable interest in the shared household”. Advani sent the notice through her advocate Mridula Kadam. Kadam declined to comment on it.

Advani, who was said to have been in a l ive-in relationship with Khanna for the past eight years, said, “There was a time when Kakaji didn’t even want to speak to his own family as they ignored him completely. We shared a lot of good times over the years. Only recently, he sometimes failed to recognise me as he was slipping in and out of consciousness owing to his debilitating illness.”

Advani left the bungalow on Thursday and is staying with her sister in Bandra. A source said the family has been trying to oust her from the bungalow for a month.

In Khanna’s last days, his estranged wife Dimple Kapadia, son-in-law Akshay Kumar, and daughters Twinkle and Rinkie reconciled with him. Kumar was always by his side and took care of him. Since then, the family disliked Advani and their relationship soured more and more. During the funeral procession, when Advani attempted to climb onto the vehicle carrying Khanna’s body, Kumar stopped her and said the vehicle was only for family members.

Khanna’s family members were unavailable for comment.

However, they are keen on converting Aashirwad into museum, and are likely to take a decision after Khanna’s ‘chautha’. “It’s his daughters’ wish,” a source close to the family said.

“I lived every moment in this palace and I want to share it with all my fans. Hence, I want to convert it into the ‘Rajesh Khanna Museum’, just like that of Elvis Presley’s,” the superstar had once said. Recalling these words of his, the superstar’s confidante and close friend Subhash Sanas said that whenever the two of them met, he used to ask Khanna to redevelop his bungalow into a plush hotel or tower. “But every time, he used to say that his house should be turned into a museum,” Sanas added.