Mumbai, July 18 (IBNS) Rajesh Khanna, India's first Bollywood superstar whose popularity touched the sky in the early 1970s after he scripted a history of unbroken hits for years, died on Wednesday. He was 69.

Khanna, with a romantic hero image whose winsome smile in the films of his era had women swooning over him, left behind his actor wife Dimple Kapadia and two daughters- Twinkle and Rinki.

"I have come to inform you that my father-in-law Rajesh Khanna is no more with us," his son-in-law Akshay Kumar told reporters on Wednesday.

Khanna breathed his last at his Mumbai residence on Wednesday after prolonged illness. Reports said he was battling cancer. 

Khanna was admitted to hospital several times recently, but when he waved at his admirers from the balcony of his house recently it appeared that his condition was improving.

He was discharged from Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has condoled the death of the superstar.

Bollywood also mourned the death.

Actor Shabana Azmi tweeted: "He was d SUPERSTAR like no other Did 10 films with him Met him last at Apsara awards Pale shadow of himself but smile as winsome."

His old heroines remembered him.

"He was a big, big superstar," said Asha Parekh, who was Khanna's co-actor in many films, including Kati Patang.

Remembering Khanna, Hema Malini, who also paired with him in many films, said: "He was the best at his time."

Actor Anupam Kher wrote: "Rajesh Khanna gave us a crash course in Romance. He introduced us to a special twinkle in the eye that made us feel good about ourselves. RIP. Rajesh Khanna taught us how to smile. He added dignity to our concept of Romance."

Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur said he was a candle that burned brighter than any star for two short a time."

 Rajesh Khanna will always be remembered as the first superstar of Bollywood whose hairstyle became a rage among the youth of the early 1970s and whose on screen pairing with Sharmila Tagore or Mumtaz produced a clutch of hit movies with immortal songs composed by S D Burman to his son R D Burman and sung by Kishore Kumar.

While Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna with their superhit 1969 film Aradhana forged one of the most successful Bollywood pairs, bolstered by the directorial skills of Shakti Samanta, Khanna had a very successful pairing with other stars like Asha Parekh, Mumtaz and later with moderately successful chemistry with Zeenat Aman, Rekha and Shabana Azmi.

But nothing perhaps equalled his paring with Sharmila and the Toy train song of Aradhana- Mere Sapno ki Rani Kabhi Ayegi Tu- remained a symbol of romance a la Bollywood.

Rajesh Khanna made his screen debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat. He was one of eight finalists in the 1965 All India Talent Contest organised by United Producers and Filmfare from more than 10,000 contestants. Aakhri Khat was directed by Chetan Anand, followed by Raaz opposite Babita, directed by Ravindra Dave.

He then did films like Baharon Ke Sapne, Aurat (1967), Doli, Aradhana and Ittefaq, the thriller starring Nanda as a killer. Later Waheeda Rehman suggested Asit Sen to take Khanna for the lead role in Khamoshi, a remake of Tollywood film Dwip Jele Jai. But with Aradhana, Rajesh Khanna the superstar emerged.

Rajesh Khanna also left an indelible mark in some Hrishikesh Mukherjee films like Anand, where he drove the audience for generations to tears playing the role of a happy-go-lucky cancer patient who lived life to the full till the end came.

While Amitabh Bachchan later pipped Rajesh Khanna as the next superstar of Bollywood, the latter's onscreen chemistry with Bachchan also was exploited to the hilt by directors like Hrishikesh Mukherjee who made them share screen space in films like Anand and later Namak Haraam.

Khanna's other notable films in his long career are 'Kati Patang', 'Amar Prem', 'Shehzada', 'Apna Desh', 'Mere Jeevan Saathi', 'Aap Ki Kasam', 'Ajnabee', 'Namak Haraam', 'Maha Chor', 'Karm', 'Phir Wohi Raat', 'Aanchal', 'Kudrat', 'Ashanti', 'Agar Tum Na Hote', 'Awaaz, Hum Dono' , 'Anand' and 'Alag Alag'.

Pertinently, he had 15 consecutive solo superhits between 1969 to 1971, which is still an unbroken record in Indian film history, but then suddenly he lost his stardom and his comeback effort as a Casanova and serial killer in the film Red Rose met with a disaster.

But he did make a comeback later and went on to act in many films besides having a stint in politics as a Congress MP.