Vinod was spotted by Sunil Dutt after graduating, and made his actor debut in Sunil Dutt's Man Ka Meet (directed by Adurthi Subba Rao) as a villain and in which Som Dutt was the hero, a remake of Tamil film Kumari Penn. Early in his career, he played in films such as Purab Aur Paschim, Sachaa Jhutha, Aan Milo Sajna and Mastana in 1970, and Mera Gaon Mera Desh and Elaan in 1971 .
Khanna was one of the few Hindu actors who started by playing villains and continued to play the hero. He got his first break as solo lead hero in the movie Hum Tum Aur Woh (1971) in front of Bharathi Vishnuvardhan. It was followed by the 1971 multi-hero film on youth disorders Mere Apne directed by Gulzar.
In 1973, his performance as an officer on death row in another scripted and directed film by Gulzar, Achanak, was critically acclaimed. He echoed the true story of K.M. Nanavati's life against Maharashtra State and Khanna portrays Kawas Nanavati, the real-life Navy officer.
In 1974, he played a college teacher at Imtihaan, which was different from his acting film roles. The film was commercially successful despite the launch with Roti Kapda Aur Makan and Majboor. This film had the song "Ruk Jaan Nahi Tu Kahin Haarke" represented on Vinod Khanna.Khanna became a follower of spiritual teacher Osho and left the film industry in 1982 for five years.
In 1987, Khanna returned to the films with Insaaf in which he played with Dimple Kapadia. After his return, he played romantic roles in Jurm and Chandni, but was mostly offered roles in action films. after Amar Akbar Anthony.His Dimple Kapadia-starrer Zooni led by Muzaffar Ali is still unpublished. After Qurbani, he again worked with Feroz Khan at Dayavan in 1988. The film was a remake of Maniratnam's 1987 Tamil film, Nayakan.
In 1997, Khanna joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and was elected from the Gurdaspur constituency in Punjab at next year's Lok Sabha poll. In 1999, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha of the same constituency. Later, he became Minister of Cultural Affairs and Tourism in July 2002. Six months later, he was appointed Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
In 2004, he was re-elected from Gurdaspur. However, Khanna lost in the 2009 general election. In the 2014 general election, he was again elected for the 16th Lok sabha of the same constituency. No other Bollywood star has triumphed in four Lok Sabha polls. MP BJP Gurdaspur has also been Minister of State for Tourism and Culture, as well as for External Affairs.
Khanna met his first wife Gitanjali in college. Khanna married Gitanjali in 1971and had two sons with her, Rahul and Akshaye; both became Bollywood actors. In 1975, he became a disciple of Osho and, in the early 1980s, moved to Rajneeshpuram.Khanna and Gitanjali decided to divorce in 1985.
In 1990, on her return to India, Khanna married Kavita Daftary, daughter of industrialist Sharayu Daftary.They had a son, Sakshi, and a daughter, Shraddha. |
