The recent success of Aditya Dhar's film 'Dhurandhar' has propelled actor Akshaye Khanna back into the limelight, making him an internet sensation. While fans celebrate his professional triumph, there is a renewed curiosity about the intensely private life he has always led, a stark contrast to his father Vinod Khanna's very public stardom and spiritual quest.
The Glamorous Beginning and a Family Built
Vinod Khanna's first wife was Geetanjali Taleyarkhan, a model hailing from a prominent Parsi family of lawyers and businessmen. She was the daughter of A.F.S. Taleyarkhan, a pioneering Indian commentator from the 1950s. Vinod met Geetanjali during his college days, long before his Bollywood fame. Their romance blossomed, and after Sunil Dutt launched Vinod in 'Man Ka Meet', his career took off.
The couple tied the knot in a grand wedding in 1971, attended by film industry elites. Their family grew with the birth of their first son, Rahul Khanna, in 1972, followed by Akshaye Khanna in 1975. At the peak of his career, Vinod was known to be a family man, famously reserving Sundays exclusively for his wife and children.
The Spiritual Void and a Life-Altering Decision
Despite immense success and a seemingly perfect life, Vinod Khanna felt a deep spiritual emptiness. In a shocking move at the height of his fame, he renounced his worldly life in 1982. He took sanyas, left Bollywood, and moved to Osho's ashram in the United States, effectively leaving his family behind.
This decision placed an immense burden on Geetanjali, who was suddenly a single parent to two young boys. She managed life alone for three years, staying in touch with Vinod via phone calls. However, as the children grew and faced questions about their absent father, the strain became unbearable. After urging him to return failed, Geetanjali issued an ultimatum: choose the family or the spiritual path. With no response, she filed for divorce, and they were legally separated in 1985.
Akshaye's Reflections and Life After the Ashram
Reflecting on his father's choice, Akshaye Khanna once shared with Mid-day that as a five-year-old, it was impossible to understand. "To not only leave his family, but to take 'sanyaas'... It's a life-changing decision," he said. He now believes a profound internal "earthquake" must have driven his father to make and stick with such a drastic choice, especially amid the controversies surrounding Osho's commune in the US, which eventually led Vinod to return to India in 1987.
On Osho's advice to "act" in life, Vinod Khanna resumed his film career. He later found love again, marrying Kavita Daftary in 1990, and they had two children. Geetanjali Taleyarkhan, however, never remarried. She dedicated her life to raising Rahul and Akshaye away from the public eye. She passed away in 2018 at 70, a year after Vinod Khanna's death in 2017.
Today, as Akshaye Khanna earns acclaim for 'Dhurandhar', his journey is inextricably linked to this complex family history—marked by stellar fame, spiritual abandonment, and a mother's quiet strength that shaped the private man he is today.
