Vinod Khanna – The Man Who Ran Bachchan Close

Vinod Khanna – The Man Who Ran Bachchan Close

When the pages of Bollywood are updated, Khanna would be portrayed as a would-have-been megastar, whereas Amitabh will have the cake and eat it too in terms of literary glory and representation of a career.

Amitabh Bachchan's career, amongst other things, is about two Khannas – Rajesh Khanna, whom he displaced as Superstar and Vinod Khanna, who breathed down his neck by matching his skills frame to frame. Vinod could do whatever Amitabh did – have massive screen presence, pack a punch into the `bad man's` belly with conviction, do comedy and carry a film on his sole shoulders. Khanna too had charisma and held his own in the 70s' even when cast besides Amitabh, who was touted as the one-man industry.

Yet, when the pages of Bollywood are updated, Khanna would be portrayed as a would-have-been megastar, whereas Amitabh will have the cake and eat it too in terms of literary glory and representation of a career.

Interestingly, their careers too took a divergence when they were at the peak of their success and prowess. While Bachchan forayed into politics and then business – only to get routed in both – Khanna took to spiritual seeking, and later made a comeback of sorts into films. Yet, while Amitabh reinvented himself and rose to a different orbit, Vinod Khanna faded away from the cameras and did well in politics. In politics, he did not need to run Bachchan close, as while the Big B moved away decisively from the electoral din and dust, Khanna was a still sitting MP when he breathed his last.

Vinod Khanna perhaps missed being destiny's child in terms of achieving the cult status of Amitabh Bachchan. To my mind, he rose above Bachchan in two parameters – machoism, next best only to the great Dharmendra, and sex appeal. His walk, dialogue delivery, romantic expressions had women fans falling head over heels for him. He was the `Dream Man` who could do what his fans hoped for from such a personality on screen. Yet he never was counted in the league of Amitabh, though the talk was always about him being the Big B's closest competitor in an era which was serenaded by such stalwarts as Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Shatrughan Sinha and Rishi Kapoor. But who knows if Vinod Khanna had stayed the Bollywood course and not ventured into spirituality at the peak of his fame, what history might have had in store for him!

Intriguingly, Vinod Khanna made a mark first as a Bollywood villain. Later, he established himself as a hero with substance. That shows his versatility and depth as an actor.

Like Rajesh Khanna, this Khanna too has left the world largely irrelevant to the contemporary viewer – a shadow of what they were at their peak. While Amitabh continues to amaze, age catches up with Dharmendra, politics consumes Shatrughan Sinha's time and Rishi Kapoor keeps his effervescence alive, Vinod Khanna has passed into eternity, with few significant pages of dedication to this great actor-star a given whenever a book on the superstars of Bollywood is written. His contemporaries watch with agony one more Bollywood great pass on and leave behind memories and a magnificent body of work.

RIP Vinod Khanna!