Updated on: 26 July, 2021 11:32 AM IST |
Vinod Khanna: The legend of Showbiz
Since then, Vinod Khanna has rarely been seen in films. He did a Hindi TV serial called Mere Apne, produced by Smriti Irani. Other than that, he also made a cameo appearance in movies like Deewaanapan -2002, Risk -2007, Fast Forward -2009, Wanted -2009 and the most recent one being Dabangg, where he played the character of Prajapati Pandey.
In the year 1997, Vinod turned to production and produced the film Himalay Putra to launch his son, Akshaye as a hero. However, the movie proved to be a flop.
Vinod Khanna fell in love once again with Kavita Daftary and subsequently tied the knot with her. Their married alliance led to the birth of their son - Sakshi and their daughter - Shraddha.
Soon after Osho was arrested in the USA and sent to jail, Vinod Khanna returned to Mumbai and recreated an impact with his acting in movies such as Chandni and Dayavan. Later, he adventured into politics, joining Bhartiya Janta Party in the late 1990s.
When Osho moved to the USA in 1981, Vinod too followed him and did various manual and laborious jobs. It led to his divorce with wife Geetanjali. He was away from cinema for a 8 long years.
Following his success, he married Geetanjali Taleyarkhan, a Parsi girl, in 1971 and had two sons with her: Rahul Khanna and Akshaye Khanna. However, after he started towering high in his profession, he developed spiritual inclinations which urged him to disown the world. He declared his retirement in 1978 and went away to stay in Acharya Rajnishs -Osho ashram.
But his amazing personality and exceptional acting skills could not tie him down only with negative roles and soon he started receiving offers for lead roles as well. He was seen with megastar Amitabh Bachchan in movies like Muqaddar Ka Sikandar, Parvarish, Amar Akbar Anthony, Hera Pheri and Khoon Pasina.
Following his role in Man Ka Meet, he received plenty of offers. Soon he was seen playing negative and supporting roles in hit films like Purab Aur Paschim -1970, Sachaa Jhutha -1970 and Mera Gaon Mera Desh -1971, Mere Apne -1971 and Achanak -1973.
Sunil Dutt offered a negative role to Vinod Khanna in his movie Man Ka Meet -1969, when they met in a party. The lead role in this movie was going to be played by his brother Somu Dutt. But after fighting off the opposition from his family, Vinod agreed for the movie and his film career took off.
A roller-coaster ride with lots of ups and downs - thats how one can best describe Vinod Khannas life. For Vinod Khanna, films came as a license to fame but were eclipsed by the cry of the Oshos commune. However, be it open criticism or broken marriage, the abhineta-turned-neta Vinod Khanna remains unshaded. We take a look at some of the milestones of his life.
