"Silence! I hear pedantry approaching!" (Screencap from Beth, who took it from Mera Gaaon Mera Desh--thanks bollyviewer & eliza bennet )I haven't done a Newbies' Guide post in a while, but what better way to create another addition to Khanna-o-Rama? As always, this post is pulled from what I can gather online, so there's always a risk that I'm repeating something as truth that's actually fabrication. (If you know better than I, please comment and I'll fix whatever's wrong.)
Vinod Khanna was born in 1946 to a textiles businessman and his wife based in present-day Pakistan. After Partition, the family moved to India, and he attended school in Mumbai. When he was thirteen, one of his teachers forced him to act in a play, and sparked his love for acting. Soon after, he began physical training under a famous wrestler who represented India in the Moscow Olympics, Shyamlal.
Vinod scored his first role at a party, when he was offered a villainous part in Sunil Dutt's Man Ka Meet (which opened in 1968 or 1969, depending where you look). His onscreen magnetism garnered more villain roles, but it was in Gulzar's 1971 film Mere Apne that he won critical attention. Vinod's performance as a star-crossed lover and gang leader won acclaim and also opened up more heroic possibilities for him as an actor. Afterward, he starred in hits like Heri Pheri, Amar Akbar Anthony, and Khoon Pasina. He met his first wife, Geetanjali, sometime during this period (try finding the date, seriously; apparently no one cares but me) and had two sons with her: Rahul, born in 1972, and Akshaye, born in 1975.
His family life was destroyed and his film career put in deep freeze in 1978, when he left all worldly concerns behind to go live with Acharya Rajnish, otherwise known as Osho, at an ashram in Pune. In 1981, Osho uprooted his followers and moved to Oregon, and Vinod once again followed him (along with hundreds of other adherents of Osho). Faced with abandonment, Geetanjali divorced him. By 1985, the "intentional community" Osho's followers had formed collapsed under accusations of bioterrorism, illegal wiretapping, and other crimes. Disillusioned, Vinod returned to India. Luckily for him, his 1987 comeback vehicle Insaaf was a major hit, and rejuvenated his career. (And went on to star in one of my favorite roles, that of the other, better man in Chandni.)
In 1990, Vinod met and married Kavita Daftary. The couple have a son and a daughter.
In 1997, he turned producer to launch Akshaye's film career in Himalay Putra. (Considering Rahul's the elder brother, yet didn't debut till two years later in a film not of his father's making, it makes me go hmmm.) Even though the movie boasted a cast including Vinod himself as well as Hema Malini, it wasn't what you could call a success.
That same year, Vinod entered the political arena, joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. He won a couple of polls, and served as Minister of State for the Ministry of External Affairs in 2004. Today, he keeps his hand in politics and also makes a few guest appearances in films, the most recent of which was apparently Fast Forward.
I had never heard of the film before this post. I believe this image explains why in great detail.His Wikipedia entry says he operates from Dubai, but I'm guessing whoever wrote that meant Mumbai.
Sources: one, two, three, four, five
Thats already a whole lot more than I know - and I've known of him since my childhood! I always thought that he was born with that body, but I guess physical training works as well as genes. :-) Didnt Beth put that screencap in the Mera Gaaon Mera Desh post?
ReplyDeleteI like the newbie post, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThe pic is from Mera Gaon Mera Desh.
"His Wikipedia entry says he operates from Dubai, but I'm guessing whoever wrote that meant Mumbai."
Why are you guessing that?
Bollyviewer: Yeah, I guess there's only so much heredity can do. ;-) And thanks for the movie name--I'll correct it.
ReplyDeleteeliza bennet: I'm guessing, based on purely U.S. experience. Here, if a politician doesn't actually live in the country, heck, the area of the country, which s/he represents, then they won't be elected to anything. Also, he's still involved in films. I guess that could be my ignorance showing.
VK indeed lives in Bombay- u r right there Ajnabi.
ReplyDeleteVinod's ex wife ie Rahul & Askhay's mom is a beautiful women (atleast from pics in mags yrs ago when they were together). She is the daughter of Talyar Khan - ex chairman of Cricket Board of India.
His present wife Kavita is the daughter of an industralist - i think this family is well known in the Indian business world
Filmbuff: Thanks for clearing that up! I read that there was some sort of difficulty with Vinod's parents about his first wife being Parsi or something? It must have been a true love match at the time!
ReplyDeleteAwesome research!! Enjoyed this post :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Nicki! I always learn a lot more than my readers when I do these sorts of things, I think.
ReplyDeleteReally interesting read, thanks for sharing. Learnt a few things. Despite being the older brother, it seems by all accounts that Rahul didn't decide to get into acting until after Akshaye's career had successfully taken off... just seems like Rahul had other things to do before starting an acting career, whereas Akshaye decided pretty young. Even now, Rahul hasn't thrown himself into acting the way Akshaye did (especially in Akshaye's early years as an actor). I also think from some of the statements he's made about being a 'star kid', that once Rahul had decided to pursue acting, it was probably HIS choice not to be launched by his dad....
ReplyDelete