Obit: Vinod Khanna - the ultimate swag king

A blue sea. A horse. And a deadly-looking man, atop that stud with his flying mane.

In a no-Internet world of the 1980s, thirty seconds of TV happened to be a big deal. And, more so, if it was a coloured one, and you had a sexy-looking man taking giant strides. Collective sighs followed as the denim-clad man moved to a more suave, tux look by the time the commercial ended. The product was a soap from the Godrej stable called, Cinthol. And the man was Vinod Khanna, who liked doing things in his own way, away from the ordinary.




At a time in Bollywood when the other heroes - Rajesh Khanna, Sanjeev Kumar and Vinod Mehra - played the good boys, Vinod Khanna thought different. And he had the gumption to play it bad in films. If his rakish charm and drop-dead looks gave him the confidence to be the bad guy on the screen, his calm attitude made him ideal for politics that would be his vocation later on.

Serious swagger goals. Dad (@VinodKhanna), circa 1964. #flashbackfriday #fbf pic.twitter.com/tjZrdzTGli

— Rahul Khanna (@R_Khanna) August 12, 2016

He did films in his own style, he lived life on his own terms. He chose his roles with carefree abandon - and that showed in his courage to team up against a tsunami called Amitabh Bachchan. He did not shy away from holding his ground against the Big B in films like, 'Parvarish, 'Khoon Pasina', 'Hera Pheri' and 'Amar Akbar Anthony'. And in multiple interviews, he reiterated the fact that unlike others, he always thought that Bachchan was a competitor and not a rival, trying to quash rumours about an underlying tension between the two.


Vinod Khanna greets Amitabh Bachchan (right) at the 125th birth anniversary function of Seth Walchand Hirachand, a visionary industrialist, in Mumbai on November 23, 2007. (Image: BCCL)

And Vinod Khanna would have continued to remain a serious competitor for the Big B (and, who knows, even the latter's stardom would be different) had he chosen to stay on in tinsel town. In the mid-80s, at the peak of his commercial success, Khanna went into oblivion. Enamoured by cult leader Osho Rajneesh and his commune life that advocated free love, the actor quit films. He moved to Oregon where Rajneesh had an ashram, and he continued to live there for the next five years.


Actor Vinod Khanna, wife Kavita Khanna and children Sakshi & Shraddha enjoy the evening out with strays that they have christened Pepper and Chinku. (Image: BCCL)

As the ascetic charm wore off, the actor itched to make a comeback. And he did, in the Mukul Anand-directed 'Insaaf' that starred Dimple Kapadia, followed by Feroze Khan's Dayavan which went on to resurrect his career. Yash Chopra's 'Chandni' brought him back as the forlorn lover in the national consciousness, even as the 90s didn't prove to be too scintillating for him professionally.


Actress Hema Malini and Vinod Khanna on the set of 'Ek Thi Rani Aisi' at Raj Mahal Palace hotel in Jaipur. (Image: BCCL)

Professional boredom of sorts made him look for other channels - and he embraced politics to overcome the ennui had set in. In 1997, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and managed to charm the Gurdaspur constituency of Punjab in the Lok Sabha polls. In 1999, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from the same constituency. And by the next decade, Khanna had become a pro, balancing both Bollywood and politics like his party colleague and fellow thespian, Hema Malini.


Vinod Khanna with PM Modi at an event. (Image: PTI)

A loss in the 2009 Lok Sabha poll to Pratap Singh Bajwa did not deter Khanna. In his trademark style of facing challenges and adversity, he bounced back in the 2014 general elections. Films continued to happen, so did politics as he appeared in Parliament.

And till the end, Vinod Khanna lived by his own formula. Fearless and going with the flow.

Much like the sexy man that wowed us in that Cinthol ad.

R.I.P. Vinod Khanna