But for his involvement with Osho, Vinod Khanna would have overthrown Amitabh Bachchan from Bollywood's top pedestal
Late Bollywood star Vinod Khanna ranks amongst the most dynamic, handsome, and exuberant actors to have flashed across the Bollywood screen. Sadly, he left us in 2017, after suffering from cancer. Vinod Khanna’s spectacular transition from villain to hero in the mid-1970s was pathbreaking, as he posed the sole challenge to superstar Amitabh Bachchan for the top spot.
Film fans hold unforgettable memories of this cleft-chinned, granite-jawed star, whose movements and actions were razor sharp and whose body language was lightning quick. The rawness and malleability he possessed were pulsating to fans. His presence had a magnetic effect on screen, with his unique style of walking, gripping intensity, and boundless energy. Arguably, for sheer attractiveness and machismo, Vinod Khanna had no equal in the history of Bollywood.
He played a defining role in the transition period of Bollywood in the 1970s, from an era of idealism to Westernisation and a materialistic drift. Vinod was renowned for his open, transparent, and forthright nature and was among the most affable characters in Bollywood. He would go out of his way to assist fellow stars in times of trouble. Villain Shakti Kapoor is one example. After his death, Amitabh Bachchan recalled the sheer style Khanna exuded on set and his great screen presence. Dharmendra dearly missed his old pal, with whom he was cast in many memorable films. Khanna and Dharmendra shared an everlasting bond of friendship.
In the 1970s, Vinod had striking chemistry with actress Shabana Azmi. What Vinod may have lacked in sheer flair, he compensated for with his innate on-screen energy and ever-charming personality. His sheer demeanour was so captivating that he could have even given Hollywood stars a run for their money. It is anybody’s guess what heights he would have scaled had he not made his journey to Rajneesh in 1980.
Possibly no one apart from Dharmendra was as convincing or powerful as an action hero or as effective in expressing the thirst for vengeance. Vinod often rebuked critics when asked why he would not equal Amitabh Bachchan’s or earlier Rajesh Khanna’s popularity, claiming he never wished to copy their style.
Vinod married twice in his life and had children from both his wives. His first wife was Gitanjali, and his second was Kavita Daftary. His sons Rahul and Akshaye, who both became actors, were from his first marriage. Vinod asserted that even after leaving Osho, he remained wedded to his philosophy, which, in his view, enabled him to strike a balance between wealth and virtue.
Sunil Dutt inducted Vinod into films, giving him his first breakthrough in "Man Ka Meet". He went on to play negative roles in "Aa Milan Ki Bela", "Mera Gaon Mera Desh", "Achanak", and "Mere Apne". In Raj Khosla’s "Mera Gaon Mera Desh" (1971), Khanna enacted the role of dacoit Jabbar Singh and even overshadowed hero Dharmendra in his performance. He projected the characteristic rugged, aggressive, and ruthless nature of a dacoit, portraying his role with remarkable conviction.
In "Mere Apne" (1972), he craftily portrayed Shyam, a gang leader, sex-starved and traumatised by his past, eventually breaking into redemption after Meena Kumari’s character, Anandi Devi, accidentally succumbs to a bullet in a gang duel. Khanna vividly expressed the voice of the frustrated youth of the 1970s, forced to take recourse to gangsterism. His tussles with rival gang leader Chenu, enacted by Shatrughan Sinha, did perfect justice to portraying the psyche of gang leaders.
In "Achanak" (1973), Vinod expressively, with an element of mystery, played an army officer who murders a man having an affair with his wife. With subtle craft and nuance, he performed the final scene of a man readily going to the gallows. The movie was based on the infamous Nanavati case and navigated Khanna’s journey from a cadet to an officer who kills his adulterous wife after a prolonged chase in exploration.
In "Imtihan" (1974), playing the role of a college professor, Khanna was at his best in championing morality and ethical values. In the most balanced manner, he projected the conviction of an idealist first to uphold virtue over wealth and then to fight against the poison instigated by goondas on a college campus. Most sensitively, he gravitated towards loving the college principal’s daughter, who was sadly widowed. In the final part, with high intensity, he refutes the false charges of rape he is framed with, performing like an impassioned lawyer. It was one of his best performances, portraying conviction.
After 1975, Khanna switched towards hero roles, but often as partner to Amitabh Bachchan in "Parvarish", "Hera Pheri", "Zameer", and "Muqaddar Ka Sikandar", where, even if playing second fiddle, he effectively complemented Bachchan. Still, he delivered hits carrying the torch singlehandedly, such as "Qurbani" (1980), "Lahu Ke Do Rang" (1979), "Inkaar" (1977), and had impactful parts in "The Burning Train" (1980) and "Amar Akbar Anthony" (1977).
In "Amar Akbar Anthony" (1977), enacting Inspector Amar, Vinod did perfect justice to the theme of three brothers reuniting after being separated at birth. In "Qurbani" (1980), teaming with Feroz Khan as urban gangsters, Vinod took sturdy machismo to realms rarely transcended in Bollywood, and his death scene was soul-searching, combining intensity and charming humour. In a double role in "Lahu Ke Do Rang" (1979), he displayed his malleability in portraying vengeance and the quest for justice in a story about a son avenging his father’s murder.
In "The Burning Train" (1980), amid a multi-star cast, Vinod epitomised balance and bravery as a railway officer dealing with a train on the verge of burning apart. He teamed superbly with Dharmendra. In "Inkaar" (1977), playing a detective chasing a killer, Vinod’s sturdiness and stealth captivated audiences. In "Rajput" (1982), he was as intense and energetic as ever, portraying a Rajput farmer combating criminals.
In late 1980, Vinod went in pursuit of his spiritual quest, disillusioned with the narcissism and crass materialism of Bollywood. In spite of being on the verge of possibly toppling Amitabh Bachchan from the top spot, he felt his soul was starved. He set out for the Osho Ashram, where he served for a period of five years. In his reflections, he recollected how he underwent an inner transformation working as a gardener for Osho and virtually discovered a new man within. It would be fascinating to explore the motive of the actor to join Osho, his experience there, and the aftermath.
On returning to India, Khanna made a spectacular comeback in "Satyamev Jayate", "Insaaf", "Chandni", "Batwara", and "Dayavan". In "Dayavan" (1988), with deep sensitivity and penetrating exploration, Vinod portrayed a crusader cutting all tumours of injustice, turning into the equivalent of a Robin Hood rather than a conventional gangster. His intensity penetrated measures rarely scaled on screen, particularly when narrating the chain of events that led him to take to anarchy. It was a commendable fusion of humour, compassion, anger, and grief.
In "Satyamev Jayate" (1987), as Inspector Arjun Singh, he did justice to the role of an officer wiping out evil, blending anger with a romantic touch. In "Batwara" (1989), teaming up with Dharmendra in a feudal setting, he craftily and emotionally portrayed Vikram Singh, the son of a Thakur engaged in a deep friendship with a policeman of low-caste background. The film explores how this friendship is broken due to vengeance and how feudalism impacts village hierarchy and peasants.
Regretfully, the film industry hardly saw Vinod Khanna engage in many movies with progressive themes in the manner of Dharmendra, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, or Rajesh Khanna. He later worked as an MLA for the BJP in Gurdaspur and later operated in Mumbai. Similar to Dharmendra, he did not identify the reactionary characteristics of the BJP and hardly raised his voice against oppression triggered by capitalism or Hindutva.
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*Freelance journalist
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