Vinod Khanna, one of the leading Bollywood heroes during the 60s and 70s, passed away from advanced bladder carcinoma or bladder cancer at the age of 70 on 27 April 2017. He breathed his last at 11:20 am at the Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre at Charni Road, Girgaon in Mumbai. A source at the hospital told the media that his family members and doctors were expecting him to recover but due to some reason his condition worsened and led to his demise. Khanna had been admitted to the hospital on 31 March with severe dehydration. He had become stable and was supposed to be responding positively to all treatment.
Reactions to his demise
Khanna was a sitting member of the Lok Sabha for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) where he represented the Gurdaspur constituency of Punjab. Rishi Kapoor, who was one of his co-leads in the memorable film Amar Akbar Anthony and Chandni, was among the first one to express his reactions via a tweet. Even as news regarding his death came to public domain a lot of his colleagues in the industry started to express grief at his death and also remembered him. Amitabh Bachchan, who worked with Khanna in many films including Amar Akbar Anthony and Muqaddar Ka Siqandar, was shocked at his demise.
The photo episode
A few days back a photo of Vinod Khanna wherein he looking extremely ill went viral on social networking sites and it started rumours, which later proved to be right, that he was suffering from cancer. It was at that time that it was being said that he was suffering from bladder cancer. Unfortunately, false news of his demise was being circulated as well. At that time, however, his elder sons – Rahul and Akshaye – did not make any comment. All they had to say was that he was stable and recovering. Khanna has left behind his wife Kavita Khanna, and his four children – sons Rahul, Akshaye, Sakshi, and daughter Shraddha.
Start of his career
Khanna, born on October 6, 1946, started his career in 1969 with bit part roles but even as time went on he carved out a hugely-successful career for himself and acted in some of the biggest hits of Bollywood at that time. Examples of some such films are:
- Mere Apne
- Insaaf
- Parvarish
- Muqaddar Ka Siqandar
- Qurbani
- Dayavaan
- Mera Gaon Mera Desh
- Chandni
- The Burning Train
- Amar, Akbar, Anthony
- Dabangg
- Dabangg 2
He appeared in 141 films in all and was regarded as one of the most famous stars of Bollywood. In his later years, he also showed his range as a character actor.
Health issues before death
Before he passed away Khanna had been ailing for a long time. He had also been hospitalized for a short period of time earlier. In fact, when his photo became viral, the hospital had said he was suffering from acute dehydration. He was also supposed to act in a film with Hema Malini. Incidentally, Feroz Khan, who acted with Khanna in Qurbani, breathed his last on the same day eight years back.