Jagmohan Singh Barhok
On His Birth Anniversary
Vinod Khanna who started his career with “Man Ka Meet”(1968), “Sachaa Jhutha” (1970) & “Aan Milo Sajna” made his presence felt in Gulzar’s “Mere Apne” (1971) also featuring Meena Kumari & Danny.”Mera Gaon Mera Desh” (Maar diya jaye ke chod diya jaye’ fame ) opposite Dharmendra, established him as a star and he later went on to rub shoulders with almost all the top notch heroes. In eighties Khanna took a break and followed Swami Rajneesh.
Khanna’s return from his spiritual sojourn following his apparent disenchantment with the lifestyles of the worldly gods & goddess enthusiastically welcomed by moviemakers & his erstwhile film colleagues. He had little difficulty in establishing himself in Bollywood as Dharmendra-the evergreen hero hero was beginning to lose some greenery and Amitabh Bachchan, having reached his zenith, was now sort of descending. Rajesh Khanna rather chosen to retire prematurely. Almost all the front line heroes, he had left behind , were lying low-by choice or by circumstances. The actor found himself in an enviable position of being just being one of the few movie lions in the filmi jungle. wonder, he hit the ‘jackpot’ in his first come back film “Insaaf” (1987) with his lady love Dimple Kapadia, who was then ruling the roost along with just one or two more female stars. Sridei was in full bloom. Rekha was past her prime and seemed more interested in regaining her past glory & glamour. The likes of Madhuri Dixit were still ‘closed buds’, yet to open up. Vinod Khanna was safe as far as seniors were concerned. He had to handle the younger ones -the likes of Jackie Shroff, Sunny Deol & Anil Kapoor.
In “Satyamev Jayate” starring Madhvi & Meenakshi were his co -stars. His undiminished masculinity was more than evident in the film. In Feroz Khan’s “Dayavan” the lead couple make uncommonly titillating love ( he had a very passionate kiss, which has for long been a subject of media debate, provoking sharp criticism & questioning the wisdom or propriety of the sequence having been permitted to stay by the censors) in the film. So provokingly sexy were the intimate scene (though they were playing husband & wife and love-making was part of their wedding night celebration) that the producers got the impression that the actress was game for anything. Madhuri later vehemently regretted having agreed to do such sizzling shots, vowing that she would never repeat such follies.
In “Rihaee”, Hema Malini & Neena Gupta, both played neglected wives by their husbands, working far away from the village. Naseeruddin Shah plays the proverbial Casanova impregnating most women in the village including Hema Malini who refuses to get rid of the illegitimate child despite pressure from various quarters. “Batwara”, “Garzana”, “Khoon Ka Karz”, “Chandni”, ‘Muqaddar Ka Badshaah” , “Kshatriya” & “Parampara” were others films he worked in.
Khanna & Amitabh both worked together in many successful films like- Guddi (1971), Hera Pheri (1976),”Amar Akbar Anthony” (1977), “Khoon Pasina” (1977), “Parvarish” (1977) & “Muqaddar Ka Sikander” (1978). His performance in “Kuchhe Dhaage”, “Imtihan”, “The Burning Train”, “Muqaddar Ka Sikandar”, “Inkaar”, “Amar Akbar Anthony”, “Rajput”, The Burning Train, “Qurbani”, “Kudrat”, Parvarish, “Khoon Pasina”, “Dayavan”, “Chandni” “Jurm” & ” Achanak” was indicative of his acting prowess.Vinod Khanna was Amitabh Bachchan’s arch rival when the ‘mega star’ star was on his way to superstardom. Interestingly, they remained good friends throughout despite rivalry. Khanna reportedly had an affair with both Sonu Walia & Amrita Singh even after his second marriage . I met the actor twice. First time in 1990 at a function & secondly during the shooting of K.B.Bokadia’s. “Police Aur Mujrim”.
Bestowed with Dadasaheb Phalke Award & Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for “Haath Ki Safai” (1975) ,BJP MP (1998–2009 and 2014–2017) from Gurdaspur, Punjab, died in 2017. Born this Day in 1946.
