Vinod Khanna the Bollywood actor who donned many caps simultaneously such as a villain and hero in Hindi movies, Member of Parliament, a Sanyasi was the most handsome actor. His screen presence was uncontested. In the fighting scenes in any movie of his, viewers could believe them as real fights because he had a great physique and was talented.   

Vinod Khanna is an actor who turned his back to stardom; his journey into spirituality began with a reading of `The Autobiography of a Yogi’ by Paramahansa Yogananda in his college days. He was in contact with many spiritual teachers but it was one of his meetings with Acharya Rajneesh famously known as Osho that transformed his life. He retired from films and went to live at Osho’s Rajneeshpuram in Oregon, US. The important point to note is that when Vinod Khanna took the decision of joining Rajneesh, he was an established actor at top of his career. Vinod spent four years as Swami Vinod Bharti at Oregon and during this phase he separated from his wife Gitanjali.

He acted in more than sixty films including some multi-starrers many of which were super-duper hits.  He played a perfect Jabbar Singh in Mera Gaon Mera Desh, a vicious dacoit who terrorises Chambal. His transition from a bad guy to a good guy in movies was gradual. In Gulzar’s Mere Apne (1971), Vinod Khanna was the leader of a bunch of rebellious, unemployed youth typifying the angst-ridden political and social landscape of India in the early 1970s.
The same year he had the opportunity to play a solo hero in Hum Tum Aur Woh in which he also sang the super hit `Priya praneshwari’.

Many film Pundits feel that Vinod Khanna’s exit from Bollywood to join Rajneesh gave a wonderful chance to Amitabh Bacchan to rein the stardom in Bollywood. Just when Bollywood had given up on Khanna, he returned in 1987 with Satyamev Jayate and Insaaf, both moderately successful films. He was good as a mafia boss in Dayavan, inspired allegedly by real-life don Varadarajan Mudaliar. In his acting career that spanned four decades, Vinod Khanna distinctively appeared in films that co-starred some powerful actors and most charming actresses. I give here below some of his rare yet hit songs:

Song: Naino Mein Darpan Hai, Darpan Mein Koi

Film Aarop (1973) Singers: Kishore Kumar & Lata Mangeshkar Music Director: Bhupen Hazarika  

Roz Shyam ati thi…(what I like most in this song is prelude of about 15-20 seconds,  chirping of birds, then guitar piece, song starts with Lata’s aaap…Tanuja and Vinod both look classy) Film: Imtihan (1974), Singers: Lata Mangeshkar,
Music Director: Laxmikant Pyarelal

Jab koi baat bigad jaye, Film: Jurm (1990), Kumar Sanu, Music Director: Rajesh Roshan 

Chahiye Thoda Pyar, Film: Lahu Ke Do Rang, Singers: Kishore Kumar, Music Director: Bappi Lahiri 

I see a great actor whose name is Vicky Kaushal. This young actor has something unique in him; he literally lives the character he plays on screen. I have seen three of his movies so far: Masaan, Razi and Sanju. He mesmerizes the audience with his performance.

He plays Deepak Kumar, a Varanasi boy from the Dom community who works with his family in cremation ghats by burning funeral pyres. Deepak wants to rise above the restrictions of a casteist society. He studies civil engineering at a polytechnic college where he meets and falls in love with Shaalu Gupta (Shweta Tripathi) who is a high caste Hindu girl. Deepak and Shweta spend a lot of time getting to know each other.   Vicky Kaushal, delivers an outstanding performance as Deepak. He is a delight to watch in his solo scenes as well as shared scenes. What wondered me about him is that he shares a fantastic rapport with the added extras that play his friends. Massan is a story of five characters; but, Deepak’s story melts your heart. Vicky is so real and engaging that you feel like watching more of the Deepak-Shaalu story.

In Razi he honestly supports the protagonist of the movie Alia Bhat. People were apprehensive about Alia’s pairing opposite Vicky, the industry felt it was an unconventional pairing. He plays a Pakistani Major in the movie. Though he has few scenes in the movie, he has left a mark in each scene of his. He steals hearts of the audience as a Pakistani Major. In most part of the film, he is wearing the uniform and he looks striking. He had to portray few vulnerable scenes in the film: as a son, a brother and a husband. Though Alia Bhat plays the protagonist of the film as an Indian spy called Sehmat, Vicky dominates the hearts of the audience as Iqbal. He plays a gentleman who does not force himself on her after they are married, he gives time to Sehmat to get familiar with him, his likes and dislikes and his house. He takes care of her needs. Vicky has played every woman’s dream man. His role as Iqbal is charismatic.  It seems Kaushal thoroughly enjoyed playing Iqbal because the character had a lot of novelty in defying the stereotypical notion of a Pakistani soldier as a crude, cruel man. Iqbal is stern as an army man, but also has a soft heart for his Indian wife. He plays the contradiction simultaneously in each scene very convincingly.

For an actor, seeming real on the screen is a vital requirement. An actor’s job is to know the breadth of emotional leeway and reaching the depths of his own acting skills. Vicky Kaushal gets deep into the skin of the roles he plays. He shares the screen with his co-stars with ease. He emotes his characters nakedly, without any guard. It is very difficult to fake emotional nakedness. In Masaan as Deepak Kumar he churns himself inside out and squeezes out all pain felt by Deepak Kumar.

I have seen this clearly in all three movies of his: he knows how to listen. It’s intriguing to watch actors when they’re not speaking, but are listening and while emoting facial expressions. He plays Kamali in Sanju and in few scenes he is just listening to the protagonist played by Ranbir Kappor who is another good actor of today. I am not a Sanjay Dutt fan, but went to watch the movie for Ranbir Kapoor. I felt that Vicky Kaushal has supported unbeatably Ranbir Kapoor in the movie. He steals every scene with Ranbir playing his best friend as Kamli. In fact, just the friendship between Sanju and his best friend Kamli would make an interesting story in itself; both Ranbir and Vicky Kaushal leave you spellbound. Ranbir is an established actor, what enlightens is Vicky Kaushal’s strong support to the central character.

A good actor is well-honed, means he knows how to use his voice and body to serve whatever role he is playing. This doesn’t necessarily mean that he should have a great physique, blond look, six packs, is tall and handsome etc, etc. In all the three movies that I watched of Vicky Kaushal, he has used his body well. He knows how to move and talk in expressive ways. I didn’t see his voice and body fighting him or holding tension that’s inapt to his role. He surprises the audience with the ease he carries. He is truthful while playing multiple and contrasting roles. He is vocally and physically gifted. He is slowly and steadily climbing the charts. I see a shining star in him.