Vinod Khanna

Vinod Khanna
Member of Parliament
Constituency	Gurdaspur
Personal details
Born	(1946-10-06) October 6, 1946 Peshawar, Pakistan
Political party	BJP
Spouse(s)	Geetanjali (1971 - 1985 divorced) Kavita (1990 - present)
Children	3 sons and 1 daughter
Residence(s)	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Salary	1 million per year
As of September 22, 2006 Source: [1]

Vinod Khanna (Hindi: विनोद खन्ना), (Punjabi: ਵਿਨੋਦ ਖੰਨਾ) born 6 October 1946, Peshawar) is an Indian actor, film producer and politician.

Early life

Khanna was born to Kamla and KC Khanna, a businessman who dealt in textiles, dyes and chemicals. He was one of five children, with three sisters and a brother and grew up in a joint family.

He attended Queen Mary’s School till class II and then went to Barnes School,Deolali and then shifted to St Xavier’s High School. He graduated from Sydenham College.

Career

Vinod Khanna debuted in Sunil Dutt's 1968 film Man Ka Meet as a villain. He acted in multi-starrer films often playing supporting and negative roles in hit films such as Purab Aur Paschim (1970), Sachaa Jhutha (1970) and Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971). His big break was in the 1971 film Mere Apne directed by Gulzar. His performance as an army officer facing death row in another Gulzar scripted and directed 1973 film Achanak was critically acclaimed. The songless film echoed the true life story of K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra and Khanna portrayed Kawas Nanavati, the real life Navy officer.

He went on to star in many hits throughout the mid 1970s and early 1980s, including Parvarish (1977), Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Khoon Pasina (1977), Muqaddar Ka Sikander (1978), The Burning Train (1980) and Qurbani (1980). Having peaked in Bollywood, he became a follower of the spiritual teacher Osho (Rajneesh) and left the film industry in 1979 for eight years. At this time, he was one of the most successful actors in the Bollywood, competing with Amitabh Bachchan & Jeetendra. He rejoined the industry, eight years later in mid 1980s. He continued to appear in many notable films from the mid 1980s to the 1990s such as Dayavan (1988), Chandni (1989), Kshatriya (1993) Eena Meena Deeka (1994) and Ekka Raja Rani (1994).

In 1997 he introduced his son Akshaye who is also a great actor, in the film Himalay Putra which he produced and also starred in. In 1999 he received a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the film industry for over three decades. He has since acted in fewer films playing character roles. His most recent films were Deewaanapan (2002) and Risk (2007).

He is currently acting as the lead in the Hindi serial Mere Apne produced by Smriti Irani which airs on the new channel 9x. He plays the role of the male lead "Kashi Nath" and is paired with producer Smriti Irani who also acts as the female lead in the serial.

Politics

In 1997, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and was elected from Gurdaspur constituency in Punjab in the next year's Lok Sabha poll.

The star-factor helped him out three times Lok Sabha member Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder. Bhinder's perceived inability to develop the area outweighed the "outsider" tag applied to Khanna. In 1999, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from the same constituency. Later, he became union minister for culture and tourism in July 2002. Six months later he was moved to the more important ministry of external affairs (MEA) as minister of state. In 2004 he won re-election from Gurdaspur.

Presently, he continues to participate in the film business based out of Dubai.

Personal life

Khanna married Geetanjali, and has two sons with her, Rahul Khanna and Akshaye Khanna; both are Hindi film actors. In 1975, Khanna became a disciple of Osho (Acharya Rajneesh). In the early 1980s, he moved to Rajneeshpuram, Osho's commune in the United States, for four years, cleaning dishes and working as Osho's gardener. His absence from his family, who remained behind in India, caused stresses with his wife, and the marriage ended in divorce.

In 1990, he married his second wife, Kavita. They have a son, Sakshi, and a daughter Shraddha.

Awards and nominations

• 1974 – Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Haath Ki Safai
• 1976 – Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actor for Hera Pheri
• 1977 – Filmfare Nomination as Best Actor for Shaque
• 1978 – Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actor for Muqaddar Ka Sikander
• 1980 – Filmfare Nomination as Best Actor for Qurbani
• 1999 – Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2006 – Stardust Awards - Role Model for the Year [2]
• 2007 – Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievement

Selected filmography

1* Dabangg (2010)

1A* 99 (2009)

2* Wanted (2009)

3* Ek Rani Aisi Bhi Thi (2008)

--- Pakistani Movie: Godfather: The Legend Continues (2007) (PAKISTAN - URDU)

4* Risk (2007)

5* Deewaanapan (2002)

6* Kranti (2002) Rati Agnihotri

7* Dus (1997) (Incomplete)

8* Himalay Putra (1997) Hema Malini

9* Eena Meena Deeka (1994)Juhi Chawla

10* Ekka Raja Rani (1994) Ashwini Bhave

11* Kshatriya (1993) Meenakshi Sheshadri

12* Insaniyat Ke Devta (1993) Jayaprada

13* Muqaddar Ka Badshaah (1990) Vijayashanti

14* Farishtay (1991) Sridevi

15* Parampara (1992) Ashwini Bhave/Ramaya

16* Khoon Ka Karz (1991) Dimple Kapadia

17* Jurm (1990) Meenakshi Sheshadri/Sangeeta

18* Chandni (1989) Sridevi/Juhi Chawla

19* Dayavan (1988) Madhuri Dixit

20* Insaaf (1987) Dimple Kapadia

21* Satya Mev Jayate (1987) Meenakshi Sheshadri

22* The Burning Train (1980) Parveen Babi

23* Rajput(1980)Tina Munim

24* Qurbani (1980) Zeenat Aman

  * Garam Khoon(1980) Sulakshan Pandit

  *  Adha Din Adhi Raat

  * Lahu ke Do Rang Shabana Azmi

25* Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978) Neeta Mehta

26* Daku Aur Jawan (1978)

27* Muqaddar Ka Sikander (1978) Raakhee

28* Aakhri Daku (1978)Reena Roy

29* Parvarish (1977) Shabana Azmi

30* Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) Shabana Azmi

31* Khoon Pasina (1977)Rekha

32* [[Hera Pheri (1976 film) Sulakshana Pandit

 * Akhari Dao Rekha

33* Zameer (1975)Saira Banu

34* Haath Ki Safai (1974) Simi Garewal

   Imtihan (1973) (1973) Tanuja
   *Kuchhe Dhaage (1972) Mausami Chatterji

35* Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971) Laxmichhaya

36* Reshma Aur Shera (1971) Raakhee

37* Mere Apne (1971) Yogeeta Bali

38* Sachaa Jhutha (1970) Faryal

39* Aan Milo Sajna (1970) Indrani Mukherji

 * Elan (1970) Rekha

40* Purab Aur Paschim (1970) Bharti

41* Man Ka Meet (1968) Leena Chandavarkar

References

Maha Sangram -1990 -with Madhuri Dixit & Govinda

External links

• Vinod Khanna at IMDb
• Parliamentary Biography
• The actor who renounced success