India mourns the death of Rajesh Khanna

 New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh mourned the death of Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna, who died Wednesday after a long illness.

"I extend my deepest condolences to the needs of the surviving family members and countless fans and admirers of Rajesh Khanna to express," Manmohan Singh said in a Twitter message was released by his office.

Khanna, known as the first superstar of Hindi film world, had engaged in politics. He was a Congress MP from New Delhi constituency FRA 1991 and 1996.

President Pratibha Patil said that the world has a powerful actor of the film and creative personality lost her condolence message to Dimple Kapadia, the wife of the superstar.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi Wednesday expressed deep grief over the death of the first Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna, died in Mumbai after a long illness.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni mourns the death of Hindi film superstar Rajesh Khanna and said, "his films are not about language barriers and be loved by people."

"Rajesh Khanna was a living legend and was our superhero. He has left a rich legacy to younger generations," said Soni a news channel.

"His films had no language barrier and was loved by people all over. We planned to organize a retrospective of Rajesh Khanna. It is sad that we lost him," she added.

Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said that we are a "great entertainer" whose popularity reached phenomenal heights, as he lost the lead.

Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said that we have lost a very versatile actor and superstar of yesteryear.

Prithviraj Chavan Maharashtra Chief Minister said Rajesh Khanna closure meant the end of an era in Bollywood.

"When he was elected Member of Parliament from New Delhi and until his term ended, he would not agree on a single film contract and he fought for me twice in Karad Lok Sabha constituency," said Chavan said, adding that Rajesh Khanna achieved stardom a relatively short period and in addition to the film industry, ruled the hearts of millions of fans.

Rajesh Khanna died Wednesday after a long illness. He was the 69th His funeral is taking place for 11:00 clock on Thursday.

The veteran actor had grown up with health problems for a long time and was frequently admitted to hospital in recent months.

In April he was admitted because of weakness and fatigue to the hospital, but was sent home for three to four days. He was again on 23 June and run Lilavati Hospital discharged after treatment for two weeks.

A week later he was again admitted to hospital after he complained of weakness, but was fired shortly after.

Rajesh started his career with "Aakhri Khat" in 1966. He was a superstar like no other with her work in hits such as "Aradhana ',' Do Raaste", "Safar" and "Anand". He was last seen in a TV commercial for Havells fans earlier this year.