Early life

Khanna was born in a Punjabi family to Kamla and Kishanchand Khanna, a textiles, dyes and chemicals businessman, on 6 October 1946, in Peshawar, British India (now in Pakistan). He has three sisters and one brother. Shortly after his birth, India was partitioned and the family left Peshawar and reached Mumbai.

He attended Queen Mary School, Mumbai until class II and then transferred to St. Xavier's High School, Fort. In 1957, the family moved to Delhi where he attended Delhi Public School, Mathura Road. Although the family moved back to Mumbai in 1960, he was sent to Barnes School in Deolali, near Nashik. During his time at the boarding school Khanna watched the epic Solva Saal and Mughal-e-Azam and fell in love with motion pictures. He graduated with a commerce degree from Sydenham College, Delhi.

Career

1968-1971

Vinod Khanna debuted in Sunil Dutt's 1968 film Man Ka Meet as a villain. At the start of his career, he played supporting or villainous characters in films such as Purab Aur Paschim, Sachaa Jhutha, Aan Milo Sajna, and Mastana in 1970, and in Mera Gaon Mera Desh and Elaan in 1971.

1971-1982

Khanna is one of the few Hindi actors who began by playing villains and moved on to play the hero. He got his first break as the solo lead hero in the film Hum Tum Aur Woh (1971), which was followed by the 1971 multi-hero film Mere Apne directed by Gulzar. In 1973, his performance as an army officer facing death row in another film scripted and directed by Gulzar, Achanak, was critically acclaimed. It echoed the true life story of K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra and Khanna portrayed Kawas Nanavati, the real-life Navy officer.

Between 1973 and 1982, Khanna played the lead role in a number of movies. These include Farebi with Moushumi Chatterjee; Qaid in 1975 and Zalim in 1980, both with Leena Chandavarkar; and Inkaar in 1978 opposite Vidya Sinha. In 1980, he starred in Feroz Khan's Qurbani (1980) which became the highest grossing film of that year. In Shankar Shambhu, Chor Sipahee and Ek Aur Ek Gyarah, Khanna appeared with Shashi Kapoor; in Hera Pheri, Khoon Pasina, Amar Akbar Anthony and Muqaddar Ka Sikandar he played with Amitabh Bachchan; and in Haath Ki Safai and Aakhri Daku he played with Randhir Kapoor. He appeared with Sunil Dutt in Daku Aur Jawan, and he had supporting roles in Sachaa Jhutha, Prem Kahani, Kudrat and Rajput, where the lead hero was played by Rajesh Khanna.

1982-1986

Khanna became a follower of the spiritual teacher Osho (Rajneesh) and left the film industry in 1982 for five years.

1987-present

In 1987, Khanna returned to Bollywood with Insaaf where he performed with Dimple Kapadia. After his comeback he played romantic roles in Jurm and Chandni, but he was mostly offered roles in action films. His Muzaffar Ali-directed Dimple Kapadia-starrer Zooni is still unreleased.

In the 1990s, Khanna worked in films including Muqaddar Ka Badshaah, CID, Jurm, Rihaee, Lekin, and Humshakal. He appeared in multi-hero casts in films such as Khoon Ka Karz, Police Aur Mujrim, Kshatriya, Insaaniyat Ke Devta, Ekka Raja Rani, Eena Meena Deeka, and the 2002 film Kranti. In 1997 he was the producer for Himalay Putra in which he also starred, with his son Akshaye Khanna.

In 1999 Vinod Khanna received a Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the industry for over three decades. He has since acted in fewer films, playing character roles in Deewaanapan (2002), Red Alert: The War Within, Wanted (2009) and Dabangg (2010). His performance as solo lead protagonist was critically acclaimed in Pehchaan: The Face of Truth (2005) and the 2007 Pakistani film Godfather (2007), as well as in the multi-starrer Risk (2007).

He ventured into television playing the male lead role of "Kashinath" in the Smriti Irani-produced Hindi serial Mere Apne, which aired on the channel 9X.

Politics

In 1997, Khanna joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and was elected from Gurdaspur constituency in Punjab in the next year's Lok Sabha poll. In 1999, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from the same constituency. Later, he became union minister for culture and tourism in July 2002. Six months later, he was moved to the more important ministry of external affairs (MEA) as Minister of State. In 2004 he won re-election from Gurdaspur. However, Khanna lost out in the 2009 Lok Sabha poll. In 2014 general election he is again elected for 16th Loksabaha from Gurdaspur constituency .

Personal life

Khanna married Geetanjali in 1971 and had two sons with her, Rahul Khanna and Akshaye Khanna. In 1975, Khanna became a disciple of Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh). In the early 1980s, he moved to Rajneeshpuram, Osho's commune in the United States, for about five years, cleaning dishes and working as Osho's gardener. His absence from his family, who remained in India, caused friction between the couple, and the marriage ended in divorce.

In 1990, he married Kavita. They have a son, Sakshi (born 12 May 1991), and a daughter, Shraddha.

Awards and nominations

• 1975 - Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Haath Ki Safai
• 1977 - Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actor for Hera Pheri
• 1979 - Filmfare Nomination as Best Supporting Actor for Muqaddar Ka Sikander
• 1981 - Filmfare Nomination as Best Actor for Qurbani
• 1999 - Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2001 - Kalakar Awards Lifetime Achievement
• 2005 - Stardust Awards - Role Model for the Year
• 2007 - Zee Cine Award for Lifetime Achievement

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2015	Dilwale	Randhir Bakshi
2014	Hero
	Koyelaanchal	Saryu Bhan Singh aka Maalik
2013	Ramaiya Vastavaiya	Station Master
2012	Dabangg 2	Prajapati Pandey
	Players	Victor Braganza
2010	Dabangg	Prajapati Pandey
	Red Alert: The War Within	Krishnaraj
2009	99	JC
	Wanted	Retd. Police Officer Shrikant Shekhawat
	Fast forward
2008	Ek Thi Rani Aisi Bhi	Jivajirao Scindia
	Halla Bol	Himself	Special Appearance
2007	Godfather
	Risk	Khalid Bin Jamal (As Randeeb Hooda
	Chooriyan
2005	Pehchaan: The Face of Truth	Advocate Deepak Khanna
2004	Bhola in Bollywood	Himself	Special Appearance
2002	Kranti	Awadesh Pratap Singh
	Leela	Nashaad
2001	Deewaanapan	Ranvir Choudhary
1997	Dus	General	Incomplete
	Himalay Putra	ACP Suraj Khanna	Also Producer of the film
	Dhaal	Inspector Varun Saxena
1996	Muqadama	Captain Ajit Singh
1995	Janam Kundli	Randhir 'Junior' Mehra
1994	Eena Meena Deeka	Deeka
	Ekka Raja Rani	Ashwini Bhave
	Pyar Ka Rog	Army Officer
1993	Kshatriya	Raja Jaswant Singh (Mirtagarh)
	Insaniyat Ke Devta	Balbir
1992	Parampara	Thakur Prithvi Singh
	Humshakal	Insp. Vinod/Sunil Kumar/Dadu Kaliya
	Nishchaiy	Ravi Yadav
	Maarg
	Police Aur Mujrim	DSP Vishal Khanna
	Waqt Ka Badshah
1991	Khoon Ka Karz	Karan
	Farishtay	Dheeru
	Dharam Sankat	Birju
	Garajna
1990	Muqaddar Ka Badshaah	Naresh
	Jurm	Inspector Shekhar Varma
	CID	Police Inspector Veer Sehgal
	Lekin...	Samir Yogi
	Maha-Sangram	Vishal
	Kaarnama	Suraj
	Patthar Ke Insan	Arjun
1989	Chandni	Lalit Khanna
	Batwara	Vikram Singh
	Suryaa: An Awakening	Suraj Singh
	Mahaadev	Arjun Singh
	Ustaad
1988	Dayavan	Shakti Vellu/ Dayavan
	Rihaee	Amarji
	Aakhri Adaalat	Inspector Amar Kaushal
	Faisla	Birju
1987	Insaaf	Avinash Kapoor
	Satyamev Jayate	Police Inspector Arjun Singh
	Zameen
	Raj Kapoor	Himself	Special Appearance (during funeral)
1983	Daulat Ke Dushman	Vinod
1982	Rajput	Bhanu
	Raaj Mahal
	Insaan
	Daulat	Ravi/ Kunwar Dilip Singh
	Taaqat
1981	Ek Aur Ek Gyarah
	Khuda Kasam	Sumer Singh
	Jail Yatra	Raju Verma
	Kudrat	Dr. Naresh Gupta
1980	The Burning Train	Vinod Verma
	Qurbani	Amar	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
	Garam Khoon
	Zalim
	Bombay 405 Miles	Kanhaiya
1979	Lahu ke Do Rang	Inspector Raj Singh / Gopi Lathuria
	Do Shikaari	Satish
	Yuvraaj	Gajendra/ Vikramdev
	Meera	Rana Bhojraj Sesodia
	Sarkari Mehmaan	Anand
1978	Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki	Ajay Chouhan
	Daku Aur Jawan
	Muqaddar Ka Sikander	Vishal Anand	Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
	Aakhri Daku
	Khoon Ka Badla Khoon
	Khoon Ki Pukaar	Sher Singh/Amrit
	Inkaar	CID Officer Amarnath "Amar" Gill
1977	Parvarish	Kishan
	Adha Din Adhi Raat
	Amar Akbar Anthony	Amar
	Khoon Pasina	Aslam Sher Khan / Shera
	Hatyara	Vijay D. Singh/Inspector Ajay Singh
	Aap Ki Khatir	Sagar
	Jallian Wala Bagh
	Maha Badmaash
	Chor Sipahee	Raja Dada / Raja Khanna
1976	Hera Pheri	Ajay	Nominated, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
	Lagaaam
	Nehle Pe Dehla
	Shankar Shambhu	Pappu R. Singh/Shambhu L. 'Chhotey Thakur' Singh
	Shaque	Vinod Joshi	Nominated, Filmfare Best Actor Award
1975	Zameer	Daku Suraj Singh / Chimpoo
	Qaid	Advocate Jai Saxena
	Prem Kahani	Sher Khan
	Sewak
1974	Haath Ki Safai	Shankar Kumar	Winner, Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
	Imtihan	Pramod Sharma
	Kunwara Baap	Police Inspector Ramesh	Guest Appearance
	Patthar Aur Payal	Surajbhan Singh 'Sarju'
	Chowkidar	Gopal
	Farebi
1973	Kuchhe Dhaage	Thakur Lakhan Singh
	Aarop	Subhash
	Achanak	Major Ranjeet Khanna
	Anokhi Ada	Gopal
	Dhamkee
	Gaddar	Inspector Raj Kumar 'Raja'
	Paanch Dushman
	Pyaar Ka Rishta
1972	Parichay	Amit
	Do Yaar
	Ek Bechara
	Ek Hasina Do Diwane	Prakash
	Ek Khiladi Bawan Pattey
	Parchhaiyan
1971	Mera Gaon Mera Desh	Jabbar Singh
	Reshma Aur Shera	Vijay Singh
	Mere Apne	Shyam
	Elaan	Ram Singh
	Hungama	Preetam
	Rakhwala	Shyam
	Preetam	Anil Thakur
	Jaane-Anjaane	Police Inspector Hemant
	Dost Aur Dushman
	Hum Tum Aur Woh	Vijay
	Memsaab	Arjun
	Guddi	Himself	shooting of Mere Apne (uncredited)
1970	Sachaa Jhutha	Inspector Pradhan
	Aan Milo Sajna	Anil Choudhury
	Mastana	Police Inspector Prasad
	Purab Aur Paschim	Gopi's groom
1969	Nateeja
1968	Man Ka Meet

[ Source: Wikipedia ]