Does 'Raj' in Yash Raj Films stand for yesteryear superstar Rajesh Khanna? New biography states 'they had unofficial agreement that...'

Rajesh Khanna's biography, Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna, written by Gautam Chintamani, is currently garnering a lot of attention online, especially for an anecdote that will forever change how you look at Yash Raj Films (YRF). YRF, founded by Yash Chopra, which went on to become one of India's biggest film production houses, is known for changing the film industry's perception towards romance. But, do you know another interesting alleged fact? There is a lore that the word 'Raj' in Yash Raj Films stands for yesteryear superstar Rajesh Khanna, and it all started with Daag: A Poem of Love (1973). 

Daag: A Poem of Love starred Rajesh Khanna, Sharmila Tagore, and Rakhee in lead roles. The film also marked the directorial debut of Yash Chopra under his own production banner. Soon after the film released, Rajesh Khanna and Yash Chopra had an infamous fallout and did not work together for more than 10 years; however, there is an interesting story behind how Yash Raj Films came into being. 

Does 'Raj' in Yash Raj Films stand for yesteryear superstar Rajesh Khanna?

According to the book, Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna, Yash Chopra was an established director, but he had only ever worked under his brother Baldev Raj Chopra's banner, BR Films. Yash Chopra was seen to make a fresh start with his films, and so he chose Rajesh Khanna for the same. Many insiders from the film industry claim that the two worked so in tandem that they even decided to co-produce Daag: A Poem of Love. 

An excerpt from the book reads, "The film also went on to create an urban legend that remains one of the Hindi film industry's most romanticized myths. According to a cross-section of people from within the industry, especially Khanna's close confidants, Rajesh Khanna and Yash Chopra had an unofficial agreement that 'Daag' would be a co-production between the two. Even though Yash Chopra, like his brother Baldev Raj Chopra, was officially Yash Raj Chopra, the presence of 'Raj' in Yash Raj Films banner is believed by many to stand for 'Rajesh' (sic)."

The book further mentions, "If stories are to be believed, the circumstances in which Yash Chopra started his production house were far from rosy. It had been a decade since he started directing, and all his films had been for BR Chopra's production house, and it was Khanna, along with producer Gulshan Rai, who helped Yash in more ways than one when he decided to go independent (sic)."

Did Rajesh Khanna and Yash Chopra have a fight? 

Even after the success of Daag: A Poem of Love, Rajesh Khanna and Yash Chopra reportedly had a fallout, the reason for which never became clear. Yash Chopra, in later interviews, hinted at not wanting to deal with Rajesh Khanna's infamous "tantrums," while Rajesh Khanna accused Yash Chopra of making him work unnecessarily long hours. 

The question of whether 'Raj' in Yash Raj Films stands for yesteryear superstar Rajesh Khanna will always remain a mystery and a stuff of legends in Bollywood.