The Debonair Departs
- In Current Affairs
- 07:32 PM, Apr 27, 2017
- Shwetank Bhushan
The charm in his looks, the fashionable dress sense, the appeal in his acting, and the confident appearance on silver screen, the charismatic Vinod Khanna was truly the one and only debonair of Hindi Cinema.
Vinod Khanna's confidence and the talent to play both soft and craggy characters gave him a distinctive place among many legends in Bollywood. His fissure chin on his handsome face made him an instant heartthrob of every girl.
With the legendary actor gone, I tried listing a few of his movies, the characters he played, that will remain entrenched in our minds forever.
Vinod Khanna debuted in Sunil Dutt's film Man Ka Meet (1968) as a villain, which was a flop, but the audience got lost in Vinod’s personality.
Mere Apne (1971):
It was Gulzar’s first directorial venture and was almost frame by frame remake of National Award-winning Bengali film Apanjan.
Anandi Devi, played by Meena Kumari was the central character of 'Nani Ma' (maternal grandmother) among the youths in a constant fight with each other, led by Shyam (Vinod Khanna) and Chhenu (Shatrughan Sinha). The movie ends Nani Ma's death from an accidental gun fire in one such clash.
Both Vinod and Shatrughan gave stellar performances and after this both never looked back and gave many power packed performances.
Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971):
The film starring Dharmendra and Asha Parekh had Vinod Khanna playing the main villain. The film showed Ajit (Dharmendra) take on Jabbar Singh (Vinod Khanna) who has been terrorizing the neighborhood. Mera Gaon Mera Desh had Vinod Khanna play the cruel Jabbar Singh, giving impetus to negative characters in his career. Some readers would be surprised to know that the famous and most successful role of Gabbar Singh was a stolen from this character of Vinod Khanna's character Jabbar Singh.
Kucche Dhage (1973):
Lakhan (Vinod Khanna) and Roopa (Kabir Bedi), both decided to change their lives for their love Sona when they find out that the other also has fallen in love for Sona. That's when they return to their bitter oath - kill or be killed. It might be the best representation for Vinod Khanna in the role of a dacoit, something which became a hallmark of the actor. He was equally fierce in "Patthar Aur Payal". His dacoit character was hated by the audience who loved him for doing it so well.
Achanak (1973):
This film again had Gulzar at the helm in which Vinod Khanna played an army man who is shattered to know about his wife’s infidelity, inspired by Nanavati murder case, which was again fictionalized in Rustom (2016) starring Akshay Kumar. In the film, Vinod Khanna, who plays an upright army officer, receives a death sentence but its execution remains inconclusive. This performance of Vinod was critically acclaimed and brought him a lot of applause.
Khoon Paseena (1977):
Vinod Khanna and Amitabh together have delivered several consecutive hits during 70’s – 80’s and shared a great chemistry. Zameer, Parvarish, Hera-Pheri and many more. But this cult character of Aslam Sher Khan played by Vinod Khanna for the first time made me look at Amitabh Bachchan as a lesser mortal which is no mean feat.
Amar Akbar Anthony (1977):
The less talked about this cult movie is better that typified “Bollywood” before the term even existed. This film and the characters cannot be imagined without any of the three leads. Vinod Khanna’s character added stability and maturity to his other two flamboyant brothers in which Khanna, as police inspector Amar, gives a square-jawed performance.
During this period, while working together, Vinod Khanna was paid more than Amitabh Bachchan, before Muqaddar Ka Sikandar.
Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978):
This one is my favorite of all the Amitabh-Vinod movies. One of the biggest hits of the 80s, it had Amitabh as the lead, but Vinod held his own. On this day, I remember only one scene from that movie. The debonair Vinod Khanna and his dimpled admiring Amitabh passing by him, singing: " ज़िंदगी तो बेवफा है, एकदिन ठुकराएगी, मौत महबूबा है, अपने साथ लेकर जाएगी."
Qurbani (1980):
Vinod Khanna's 'Qurbani' was one of the biggest blockbusters and is still cherished amongst the audience. My elder sister remarked about Vinod Khanna in Qurbaani "Vinod Khanna was so devastatingly handsome in Qurbaani, one wondered why Zeenat Aman would go for the main lead buffoon." That is the benefit of producing a cinema probably.
Vinod Khanna belongs to the legions of actors in Hindi Cinema with immense acting skills who became a follower of the spiritual teacher OSHO and gave up his crown of fame at the peak of his career in 1982. Daulat Ke Dushman (1983) was the last film that released during his five years break in search of spirituality.
Despite being away, his impact and connect with his fans and followers was observed when he made a comeback with 'Insaaf' and 'Styamev Jayate' in 1987. He was welcomed with open arms and was an instant hit.
Dayawaan (1988):
Feroz Khan as a filmmaker made few good films like Dharmatma & Qurbani. Dayawan was a remake of Mani Ratnam's Nayakan. This movie might be remembered more for the lip-lock between Vinod Khanna and Madhuri Dixit, but there was more to it. Vinod Khanna is exceptional playing the character of Shakti Vellu. It is perhaps one of Vinod Khanna's best movie.
Lekin (1991):
This move is based on Tagore’s short story Kshudhit Pashaan. It was directed by Gulzar in which Vinod plays a government officer who comes to the village in an abandoned Haveli to take stock but gets haunted by the visions the castle has to offer him. It is undoubtedly one of Vinod Khanna’s finest performances.
The only character played by Vinod Khanna that I hated from the core of my heart was him playing Salman Khan's stepfather, who is quite irked with the stepson’s presence in his family’s life. It was one character that I would have enjoyed on anyone except Vinod Khanna.
Tryst with politics:
In 1997, Vinod Khanna joined BJP and got elected from Gurdaspur constituency in Punjab in the Lok Sabha polls. In 2002, during the time of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, he also became Union minister for culture and tourism as well as Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs. Vinod Khanna lost the 2009 election but was re-elected from Gurdaspur in 2014.
One of the most loved Bollywood personalities, the legendary Vinod Khanna passed way at 70, after losing his battle to cancer.
With a lot of pain and abundance of memories, I pray for his soul to rest in peace.
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