Years after Rajesh Khanna’s death, Anita Advani has once again spoken about her relationship with the late superstar and the legal battle that followed.
In a recent interview, she claimed that Khanna had repeatedly sought a divorce from his estranged wife, Dimple Kapadia, but was unable to obtain one.
Rajesh Khanna married Dimple Kapadia in 1973 when she was just 16 years old. After welcoming daughters Twinkle and Rinke Khanna, the couple separated in 1982 but never legally divorced.
Khanna later shared a close relationship with Anita Advani, who has maintained that they lived together for over a decade until his death in 2012.
Earlier this year, on April 1, 2026, the Bombay High Court dismissed Anita Advani’s appeal seeking recognition of her live-in relationship with Rajesh Khanna as a valid marriage.
The court observed that the relationship had the “character of a live-in relationship” and did not meet the legal requirements of a valid marriage under the Hindu Marriage Act.
Anita Advani On Her Legal Battle
Speaking to Meri Saheli, Anita said her case had been wrongly viewed through the lens of marriage laws.
She said, “Mera case hai woh Hindu Marriage Law pe chala gaya hai jisse mera lena dena nahi hai. Yahan se civil mein bhej diya. Laws of civil are different. Relationship in the nature of marriage maanga maine toh kehte hai wife nahi hai. Yeh joh law banaa hai, ‘relationship in the nature of marriage’ usmein live-in partner bhi aati hai, sister bhi aati hai, mother bhi aati hai‘ (“My case was treated under the Hindu Marriage Law, which has nothing to do with my situation. From there, it was transferred to the civil court because civil laws are different. I sought recognition as a ‘relationship in the nature of marriage,’ but they said I am not a wife. The law that recognises a ‘relationship in the nature of marriage’ includes not just a live-in partner, but also a sister and a mother).”
She went on to claim that Rajesh Khanna wanted to legally end his marriage but could not.
“Koi kehta hai relationship sahi hai aur agar kisi ki wife ho aur woh uske saath reh rahe ho toh aap kisi aur ke saath relationship nahi banaa sakte. Lekin aap chale gaye ghar chhodke, aapka saalon tak Rishta nai hai, uske baad koi aata hai unki life mein. Woh insaan ko aap barbaar kardete hai ke woh kahin ka nahi rehta. Naa toh woh saath reh rahe the aur naahi divorce kar rahe the. Divorce kitna maanga, nahi diya. Ab woh kahin ka na rahe. Aur maang itni thi ke divorce dena bhi hai toh sab kuch hamare naam kardo. (Some people say the relationship was valid, and that if someone is still legally married and living with their spouse, they cannot have a relationship with someone else. But what if the spouse has left the home and they haven’t had any relationship for years? Then someone new comes into that person’s life. That person ends up being completely ruined because they are left with no legal standing. They were neither living together nor getting divorced. He asked for a divorce so many times, but it was never granted. In the end, he was left in limbo. And the demand was that if they were to grant the divorce, everything had to be transferred in their name).”
Anita further alleged that Khanna himself had spoken publicly about wanting a divorce.
“Bola bhi tha interview mein ke main divorce dena chaahta hu, kitni baar bola hai par woh dete nahi hai. Aisi kaunsi wife, pataa nahi? Wife aur bacche saath mein rehti ho..toh ghar kyun tode. Divorce 10 baar maanga magar nahi diya, unki maang itni thi ke agar divorce dena hai toh sab kuch hamare naam kardo. Uski wife thi toh isiliye tumhare saath relationship nai ho raha. Woh akela ho gaya aur apni life woh de raha hai, he wasn’t an easy man but unka koi saath aur agar unka koi saath de raha hai toh law banaa kyun hai? Bohot asamanjhas wali baat hai. (He even said in interviews that he wanted a divorce. He said it many times, but they wouldn’t give it. What kind of wife does that? A wife and children are supposed to live together-otherwise, why break up the home? But here they were living separately. There was nothing like husband and wife between them. He asked for a divorce at least ten times, but it was never granted. The condition was that if they agreed to the divorce, everything had to be put in their name. Because he still had a wife, they kept saying a relationship with me couldn’t be recognized. He ended up all alone and was simply trying to live his life. He wasn’t an easy man, but if someone chose to stand by him, then why does the law exist if it doesn’t protect such a relationship? It’s a very contradictory and confusing situation).”
‘He Lost Faith In People’
In the same interview, Anita also reflected on Rajesh Khanna’s personality and claimed that several events in his life made him increasingly distrustful of people.
“He was suspicious of everyone. If you ask me psychologically, I think he lost his trust in people. First, he was adopted. Then he was betrayed in relationships. Friends in the industry also betrayed him. Even those whom he had helped and made successful eventually went against him. He became suspicious of everyone.”
She further claimed that many people took advantage of the actor.
“Many people exploited him. During political campaigns, he would go wherever he was asked, but people in between would pocket the money. Kakaji himself never took any money.”
According to Anita, the emotional impact of learning about his adoption also affected him deeply.
“People ask why there were so many changes in his personality, why he became so difficult. His life itself began on a complicated note. He was adopted, and when he came to know about it, it was a huge shock for him.”
She also spoke about his relationship with his biological family.
“He wasn’t close to his biological sisters or family. Once his sister came to meet him and he asked, ‘Who is she?’ There wasn’t much of an emotional connection.”
Rajesh Khanna On Coping With Failure
Rajesh Khanna, born as Jatin Khanna in 1942, became Hindi cinema’s first superstar after delivering a remarkable streak of hit films following Aradhana (1969). However, as his career declined during the mid-1970s, the actor openly admitted that he struggled to cope with failure.
In a 1990 interview with Movie magazine, he recalled how success and failure affected him emotionally.
“I still remember the exact moment when for the first time I became aware of how mind-blowing super-success can be. It psyches you totally – or you’re not human.”
He also admitted that alcohol became his coping mechanism during the downturn in his career.
“Later, when I started dipping, I hit the bottle. I mean, I am not a superhuman being. You are not Jesus Christ and I am not Mahatma Gandhi.”
Remembering one of the lowest points in his life, Khanna had said:
“It was three in the morning. I was pretty high on spirits… it was my first taste of failure. Seven films had flopped in a row. It was raining, pitch-dark, and I was alone on my terrace. I lost control and cried out, ‘Parvardigar, hum garibon ka itna sakht imtihaan na le ki hum tere wajood ko inkaar kar dein.'”
Anita Advani has long maintained that she and Rajesh Khanna shared a committed relationship during the final years of his life and has also claimed they were privately married. However, those claims have never been legally established and have been disputed by members of the late actor’s family.
