A veteran actor, a producer and a politician.

Age and Height

Vinod Khanna was born on 6th of October, 1946, in Peshawar, the North West Frontier Province of British India. He passed away at the age of 70 on 27th of April, 2017, in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. He stood tall at a height of 5 feet 10 inches. 

Marriage/Relationships

Vinod Khanna married his college sweetheart Gitanjali Taleyarkhan in the year 1971 and had two sons with her Rahul and Akshaye. They got divorced in the year 1985. He then got married to Industrialist Sharayu Daftary’s daughter, Kavita Daftary. They had two children, a son Sakshi and a daughter Shraddha.

Career

Vinod Khanna started his career after being spotted by Sunil Dutt, when he had just finished his graduation. He was portrayed as the villain in the film, "Man Ka Meet” which was a remake of the Tamil film Kumari Penn. He then acted in the film “Mere Apne”, in a supporting and antagonistic role in the year 1971. Then he was seen in the role of the main antagonist in the movie “Mera Gaon Mera Desh”.

Over the years, he was featured in the lead role in many movies. He was one of those actors of the Bollywood industry who started their career by playing the role of a villain and then moved on to become the hero. He got his first chance to play as the lead hero in the movie “Hum Tum Aur Woh” with Bharathi Vishnuvardhan, in the year 1971.

Then in the year 1973, he played the role of a military officer who had turned into a fugitive based on the events of the case K. M. Nanavati v. the State of Maharashtra, in the movie “Achanak”. It was a critically acclaimed film. In 1974, he played the role of a college professor in the movie “Imtihaan”. The film was very successful. The famous song “Ruk Jaana Nahi Tu Kahin Haar ke” from this movie, is entirely on Vinod Khanna.

From 1977 to 1978, there were back to back two films, “Amar Akbar Anthony” and “Muqaddar Ka Sikandar” respectively, which were the highest grossing movies of the year. Between the years 1973 to 1982, he was cast in many films as the lead hero and with many brilliant and renowned actors and actresses.

The most mentionable is the 1980 film, “Qurbani”, where he played the lead role and the movie ended up being the highest grossing film of the year. He was one of the highest paid actors of his time.

He was an active member of the BJP and was got also elected as Member of Parliament from the Gurdaspur Constituency. In July 2002, he became the Union Minister of Culture and Tourism and then moved to the Ministry of External Affairs.

Controversies

As such, there haven’t been many controversies that have surfaced around this actor.

Awards

He received the Filmfare Awards for Lifetime Achievement in 2000 and for Best Supporting Actor in 1975. He also received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2018.

Trivia

He started following Osho as a disciple in the year 1980 and moved to Rajneeshpuram, in Wasco County, Oregon, USA.