Vinod Khanna was not just a legendary actor, but also a great politician. The actor always managed to stay in the headlines. In the 1970s, he made news for his exceptional acting skills, in 1980s for leaving acting and joining Osho Ashram only to make a powerful comeback in Bollywood, and later in life for his political achievements. Vinod Khanna was the only Bollywood star to have triumphed in four Lok Sabha polls.
The actor joined BJP in 1997, and was elected from Gurdaspur constituency in Punjab in 1998’s Lok Sabha poll. In 1999 and 2004, he was re-elected from the same constituency. He lost in 2009 but returned in 2014. He was also made the Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, and later moved to Ministry of External Affairs as Minister of State.
Recently, writer-director-actor Ananth Mahadevan recalled his bond with the star and shared an interesting anecdote with Siddharth Kannan. He said, after seeing his successful run in politics, he suggested him to run for the post of Prime Minister of India. But the actor refused.
‘Asked him to stand for Prime Ministership’
Sharing his conversation with the actor, Ananth said, “Once I told him, ‘Sir, you should be standing for the Prime Ministership of this country. We don’t mind a good looking Prime Minister for a change. He said, ‘No Anant, you don’t know. it is a very vicious game. Not as simple as you think. Not as straight as you think. I am an MP from Punjab is fine, I am doing my job, but beyond that it’s not easy even though I am in that pole position.”
Sharing the depth of his bond with the actor, he revealed, “Till the time of his passing away, he used to send me very funny emails of jokes and anecdotes. We kept in touch for a long time.”
‘He has gone through a lot’
When asked to reveal the actor’s personality as a person, he said, “Vinod Khanna was not bindaas in any sense. But, neither he was a total introvert. If you spoke to him, he opened up. He spoke to you about several things. And if no one approached him, I still have an image of him standing in Film City, almost against the setting sun and the towering personality, almost I was standing now it was like a low angle shot, and this man is standing there and I realise that he has gone through a lot. He is seen a lot. Otherwise why would he want to work with a person like me?”
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Source: politics.einnews.com…
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