Did Rajesh Khanna's bungalow sell for low price because it was 'haunted'?

Following a long tussle over ownership that tabloids happily feasted on, late actor Rajesh Khanna’s bungalow has been sold off, reportedly for Rs 95 crore. However, pundits noted that the sea-facing bungalow, in a prime location, sold for much less than what its ideal price should have been. The bungalow has been bought by Shashi Shetty, the founder and executive chairman of Mumbai-headquartered Allcargo Logistics. Firstbiz noted that the reason the bungalow sold for a low price is perhaps because it falls in the coastal regulation zone. “At 6,500 a square feet, the property has been sold for a mere Rs 95 crore because the bungalow falls under the stringent coastal regulation zone and, hence, it is entitled to a limited floor space index in case it is redeveloped. In other words, the bungalow cannot be converted into a high rise,” Firstbiz observed. However, rumour mills are abuzz that there might be more than a pragmatic reason to the bungalow’s selling price. One of the reasons being that it had always been mired on controversies. [caption id=“attachment_1634907” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rajesh Khanna’s bungalow Aashirwad. Image courtesy: IBN Live.[/caption] First, there was an ugly spat between Rajesh Khanna’s alleged companion in his last days, Anita Advani, and his family over ownership of the bungalow. Following his death, reports suggested that Dimple Kapadia and other family members had evicted Advani from Khanna’s bungalow, where she had been living for eight years. Consequently, Advani sent Kapadia and Twinkle and Rinki Khanna a legal notice asking her to be reinstated in the bungalow. “Fearing ill-treatment at the hands of Khanna’s family and ‘under pressure’ to vacate the premises for over a month, Advani had, in the notice, staked a claim to the multi-crore Aashirwad as his live-in partner of nearly a decade,” the Daily Mail notes in an article. Following Khanna’s death, there were conflicting claims as to what the actor wanted the bungalow’s fate to be. Advani constantly maintained that the actor had never wanted to sell off the property and wanted it to be converted into a memorial instead. After this dispute seemingly blew over, Khanna’s family and Advani were again caught in a row over the bungalow - this time over its name. A report on IB Times noted that the bungalow was quietly renamed by his daughters after his death in 2012. “Rajesh Khanna’s illustrious see-facing “Aashirwad” bungalow on Carter road, Mumbai, has now been renamed by his daughters and is sporting a new name plate with “Vardaan” prefixed before the old board,” the report says.   The renaming allegedly took Advani by surprise who told The Times of India that Khanna’s ‘soul would be hurt’ by this change of name. If that was not enough, it was also said that Khanna’s bungalow was haunted. And no, if reports are to be believed, this ghost didn’t spook people; rather it brought residents success. Before Aashirwad belonged to Rajesh Khanna, it was owned by another big Bollywood star, Rajendra Kumar. Kumar bought the bungalow for Rs 60,000 back in the day. Later, he moved to a bungalow in Pali Hill in Bandra, which is when Rajesh Khanna literally begged him and bought the bungalow off him says a TOI report. The report notes that there was a strong rumour that the bungalow was haunted before Kumar bought it. However, he still went ahead, but only after performing a puja to ward off ghosts. Apparently, after he moved to the bungalow, Kumar’s fledgling career grew in leaps and bounds. The same pattern of success followed with its next occupant Rajesh Khanna. However, though it is evident that the stories were just that - stories with no truth in them, did they have the power to affect the price of the property? One wouldn’t know.