At the peak of his career in 1982, late veteran actor, Vinod Khanna moved to Osho’s commune, Rajneeshpuram in Oregon. Vinod quit Bollywood to indulge in deep meditation and in a self-indulgent act, left his family behind in Mumbai. During this time, he was also pitted against Amitabh Bachchan, the rising star of Bollywood then. Although it is said that Amitabh overtook Vinod to become the next superstar of Bollywood, senior journalist Bhawana Somaaya recently mentioned that Amitabh pleaded with the actor not to quit films.
In an interview on the Hindi Rush YouTube channel, Bhawana said, “Bachchan wasn’t responsible for Khanna’s career, was he? He alone couldn’t have done anything. Khanna was a very good-looking actor; talented, sensitive… Vinod Khanna got lost within himself. He chose to follow Rajneesh. He called a press conference and announced that he was quitting the industry.”
She continued, “In fact, Amitabh Bachchan pleaded with him not to go ahead with his decision. Shashi Kapoor also told him to reconsider. Every actor and director told him not to leave, that it would be the wrong thing to do. But he was sure he wanted to leave the industry, and he left. He was there with Osho for a long time, and then he returned, and he was able to restart his career. His career was fine, according to me.”
Vinod once told Simmi Garewal that his move to the commune came was selfish but that’s how it was supposed to be. When asked if he still looked at his move as a selfish decision, he said, “It is! Unless you’re selfish, you can’t do anything like this. Because it’s your own being that has to find that transcendence.” He added, “Everybody has to travel alone. You come alone, you go alone. You have to travel your path.”
In 2020, Vinod’s son, Akshaye Khanna also talked about his father’s belief in Osho. “As a five-year-old, it was impossible to understand it. Osho had nothing to do with my thoughts about why my dad wasn’t there. That came much later… It’s a life-changing decision, which he (Vinod Khanna) felt that he needed to take at the time. Something must have moved him so deeply inside, that he felt that that kind of decision was worth it for him. Especially, when you have everything in life. And when life doesn’t look as though there’s much more that you can have,” Akshaye said.
Vinod Khanna returned to Mumbai after the commune was disbanded and Mahesh Bhatt helped him restart his career with Jurm.
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