Film historian Dilip Thakur recently spoke to ETimes about late actor Vinod Khanna who left an indelible mark on many.
He recalled his personality was his biggest asset. “His success lay in his walk. There were only two actors who had a great walk on screen; Raaj Kumar and Vinod Khanna. Vinod Khannawalked like a stallion. Take any film of his, especially his films with Mukul Anand such as Mahasangram and Insaaf.Look how he has used his walk in those films,” he said.
He recalled Ranjit telling him recently that when Vinod Khanna made a comeback, many people signed him, and a lot of them wanted to lend him a helping hand. Ranjit himself had signed him for Kaarnama. At the same time, he got Mahesh Bhatt’s Marg starring Hema Malini. He also got Feroz Khan’s Dayawan. But Ranjit had Vinod Khanna’s dates because of knowing each other so well. Hema Malini and Feroz Khan asked for Vinod Khanna’s dates and they helped each other out. In fact, when Vinod Khanna made a comeback, Ranjit used to go to drop him to his residence in Walkeshwar in South Bombay.
“Vinod Khanna received good feedback from the film industry upon his comeback with Mukul Anand’s Insaaf. The next week, he had the release of Raj N Sippy’s Satyamev Jayate. Vinod Khanna didn’t feel the burn of making a ‘comeback’, in fact, people welcomed him. Vinod Khanna starred in four films by Gulzar – Mere Apne, Achanak, Meera, and Lekin. He also made a guest appearance in Parichay as Jeetendra’s friend,” Dilip recalled.
The only problem Vinod Khanna had, according to Thakur, was arriving late on sets. “He used to arrive very late. People often compared who is the superstar – Vinod Khanna or Amitabh Bachchan? In that comparison, Amitabh Bachchan moved ahead. At that time, a lot of people from within the industry, audience and media were of the opinion that if Vinod Khanna hadn’t taken the spiritual path and left the industry, he could have been a great competitor to Amitabh Bachchan. But in my opinion, Amitabh Bachchan had more versatility than Vinod Khanna. Khanna seemed like a misfit in songs. He didn’t have the dance moves,” Dilip noted.
“Khanna lived in Mumbai and learned Marathi. In my opinion, his best film was Achanak. Gulzar repeated him in his films. Khanna worked with Prakash Mehra, Manmohan Desai, and everyone else except Hrishikesh Mukherjee. When Rajesh Khanna passed away, Vinod Khanna looked very disturbed when he came to pay his respects. I saw him disturbed for the first time,” he added.
He recalled his personality was his biggest asset. “His success lay in his walk. There were only two actors who had a great walk on screen; Raaj Kumar and Vinod Khanna. Vinod Khannawalked like a stallion. Take any film of his, especially his films with Mukul Anand such as Mahasangram and Insaaf.Look how he has used his walk in those films,” he said.
He recalled Ranjit telling him recently that when Vinod Khanna made a comeback, many people signed him, and a lot of them wanted to lend him a helping hand. Ranjit himself had signed him for Kaarnama. At the same time, he got Mahesh Bhatt’s Marg starring Hema Malini. He also got Feroz Khan’s Dayawan. But Ranjit had Vinod Khanna’s dates because of knowing each other so well. Hema Malini and Feroz Khan asked for Vinod Khanna’s dates and they helped each other out. In fact, when Vinod Khanna made a comeback, Ranjit used to go to drop him to his residence in Walkeshwar in South Bombay.
“Vinod Khanna received good feedback from the film industry upon his comeback with Mukul Anand’s Insaaf. The next week, he had the release of Raj N Sippy’s Satyamev Jayate. Vinod Khanna didn’t feel the burn of making a ‘comeback’, in fact, people welcomed him. Vinod Khanna starred in four films by Gulzar – Mere Apne, Achanak, Meera, and Lekin. He also made a guest appearance in Parichay as Jeetendra’s friend,” Dilip recalled.
The only problem Vinod Khanna had, according to Thakur, was arriving late on sets. “He used to arrive very late. People often compared who is the superstar – Vinod Khanna or Amitabh Bachchan? In that comparison, Amitabh Bachchan moved ahead. At that time, a lot of people from within the industry, audience and media were of the opinion that if Vinod Khanna hadn’t taken the spiritual path and left the industry, he could have been a great competitor to Amitabh Bachchan. But in my opinion, Amitabh Bachchan had more versatility than Vinod Khanna. Khanna seemed like a misfit in songs. He didn’t have the dance moves,” Dilip noted.
“Khanna lived in Mumbai and learned Marathi. In my opinion, his best film was Achanak. Gulzar repeated him in his films. Khanna worked with Prakash Mehra, Manmohan Desai, and everyone else except Hrishikesh Mukherjee. When Rajesh Khanna passed away, Vinod Khanna looked very disturbed when he came to pay his respects. I saw him disturbed for the first time,” he added.