Rajesh Khanna birth anniversary: When he starred opposite ex-wife Dimple Kapadia in unreleased 'Jai Shiv Shankar'

India's first 'superstar' Rajesh Khanna once featured in a movie with his ex-wife Dimple Kapadia. The movie, titled 'Jai Shiv Shankar', never released. On the actor's 78th birth anniversary, we take a look at what happened that the film was completed back in 1990 but never released.

'Jai Shiv Shankar' shooting commenced in 1987, with Rajesh Khanna as the producer. The movie, based on a popular song featuring Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz, was the only film that featured Rajesh Khanna opposite his real-life wife (till 2012) Dimple Kapadia.

Parts of the movie were shot in California, USA. A song based on Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia's romance in the film, was shot on the location.

The film also starred Chunky Pandey and Sangeeta Bijlani in pivotal roles. They were both going to make their debut with the movie. However, the film never saw the light of the day.

Interestingly, Khanna's soon-to-be son-in-law Akshay Kumar (Twinkle Khanna's husband) had auditioned for Chunky's role but did not meet 'Kaka' that day.

Archana Puran Singh was also signed for the movie but got replaced soon after for reasons that are still unknown. Initially, Vinod Khanna, Mithun Chakraborty and Jackie Shroff were signed for the lead roles. They were replaced by Rajesh Khanna, Jeetendra and Chunky Pandey respectively.

Unfortunately, Rajesh Khanna's voice, Kishore Kumar (Roop Tera Mastana, Mere Sapno Ki Rani, Jai Jai Shiv Shankar, etc.), passed away just a month before the movie went on floors. Khanna then roped in Kishore's son Amit Kumar to sing all the songs in 'Jai Shiv Shankar'.