From superstardom to renunciation, Vinod Khanna lived a life that constantly swung between excess and emptiness, faith and fame. Years after his passing, his second wife Kavita Khanna has opened up about a deeply personal side of the actor that few ever saw, revealing an inner turmoil that ran parallel to his glittering Bollywood career.
Vinod Khanna was at the peak of his stardom in the late 1970s when he shocked the industry by walking away from films to follow spiritual guru Osho. According to Kavita, that decision was not sudden or impulsive. His inclination towards spirituality began much earlier, long before fame and fortune entered his life.
Recalling an incident from his teenage years, Kavita said Vinod first encountered Osho at the age of 17, without realising it at the time. He had gone to a bookstore to buy Autobiography of a Yogi and only later discovered that Osho himself was present in the same shop. “From a very young age, Vinod had a spiritual bent of mind,” she shared, adding that the seeds of renunciation were planted early.
Life, however, took its toll. Vinod Khanna suffered multiple personal losses over the years, but it was his mother’s death that deeply shook him. Kavita revealed that after this loss, he formally took sanyas under Osho. “That’s when his spiritual journey truly began,” she said.
At Osho’s Oregon commune in the US, Vinod Khanna lived a life far removed from stardom. He worked as a gardener at Osho’s private residence, performing seva like any other disciple. Kavita recalled that access to Osho was extremely restricted, and Vinod was among the few allowed into his inner circle. She also revealed a lesser-known detail about his time there, saying, “Osho had these fabulous flowing robes designed for him, and they were often tried on Vinod because they had the same shoulder size.”
Even before leaving Mumbai, Vinod’s spiritual practices were unconventional and intense. Kavita spoke about his participation in naked meditation sessions at Chowpatty Beach, right in the middle of the bustling city. “Everyone meditated together without clothes. It was not about anything physical. He was genuinely devoted to the process,” she emphasised.
Behind this spiritual quest was also a man battling inner demons. Kavita revealed that Vinod smoked between 40 and 80 cigarettes a day. During a routine check-up in 2001, doctors found patches on his lungs. “We went to the leading MRI specialists of Mumbai, and they all said it was lung cancer,” she recalled.
What followed stunned even the doctors. After seeking Gurudev’s blessings, Vinod delayed surgery and focused on breathwork and Sudarshan Kriya. “There was no cancer. It was just unbelievable. There was no cancer,” Kavita said.
Years later, Vinod Khanna was diagnosed with bladder cancer, with doctors giving him only a 25 percent chance of surviving beyond two years. This time, he accepted the news calmly. Kavita remembered being told that he felt he had lived a full life and was ready for whatever came next, choosing faith over fear.
After treatment and Panch Karma, his health improved and the cancer disappeared for a period. Though it eventually returned, Kavita said his belief never wavered. Vinod Khanna passed away in April 2017 at the age of 70, leaving behind not just an iconic film legacy, but a spiritual journey marked by surrender, struggle, and quiet acceptance.
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