Mumbai: The late Bollywood star Vinod Khanna, known for his bold career choices and spiritual journey, left a lasting impression on fans through both his professional achievements and personal life.
Khanna made his debut in 1968 with Sunil Dutt’s ‘Man Ka Meet’, quickly rising to prominence with his commanding presence and charisma. Throughout the 1970s, he starred in blockbusters such as ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh’, ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’, ‘Muqaddar Ka Sikandar’, and ‘The Burning Train’, establishing himself as a versatile and reliable actor admired for his blend of intensity and subtlety.
At the height of his success, however, Khanna abruptly left the film industry to pursue spiritual growth under his guru, Osho. In a past appearance on ‘Rendezvous with Simi Garewal’, he reflected on this decision, attributing it to inner turmoil. “My mind made me do that. My mind was hyper, my thoughts were all over the place. I was very angry as I had reached a saturation point,” he shared, noting how people could easily provoke reactions beyond his control.
Meditation, he explained, offered clarity and mastery over his thoughts, leading him to prioritize spiritual devotion over fame and wealth. Khanna spent time at the Osho ashram in Pune and later in the United States, embracing a disciplined routine focused on meditation and self-discovery.
This phase strained his first marriage to Geetanjali Taleyarkhan, whom he wed in 1971 and with whom he had two sons, Rahul and Akshaye Khanna. The couple divorced in 1985.
Upon returning to India, Khanna resumed acting and entered politics, serving as a Member of Parliament and holding ministerial positions. In 1990, he married Kavita Daftary, with whom he had a son, Sakshi, and a daughter, Shraddha.
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In the same interview, Kavita Khanna spoke candidly about her husband’s demanding personality. When asked if living with him was challenging, she responded, “He is a very taxing person to live with. But that is Vinod and that is what I liked about him when we first started talking to each other. He was extending boundaries of thought and it was wonderful to do at midnight when I was in that space.”
She added that while this intensity was initially exhilarating, it could become exhausting in everyday life. “To have it do that every day with routine things you do in life is a little taxing,” she noted, observing that strengths taken to extremes can also become weaknesses, much like how Vinod appreciated her analytical mind but grew frustrated when it became overly so.
Khanna continued delivering strong performances in later films until his death in 2017.
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