Vinod Khanna: Rare pictures of the sexy flamboyant sanyasi and his spiritual encounter with Osho

Legend has it that when Sunil Dutt saw Vinod Khanna for the first time, he was fascinated with the young man because he was from Peshawar (present day-Pakistan). Dutt decided to launch Khanna and his younger brother Som Dutt in his home production Man ka Meet (1968).

Initially, Vinod Khanna was just a good looking villain. But his solid screen presence ensured that irrespective of whether his role was positive or negative, he was noticed in all his films – be it Purab Aur Paschim with Manoj Kumar or Aan Milo Sajna and Sachcha Jhootha with Rajesh Khanna (1970).

When in Mumbai (then Bombay), he shot from Monday to Friday. After pack-up, he drove to Pune (then Poona) to spend the weekend with Rajneesh. Producers were concerned about his obsession with Rajneesh but Vinod Khanna was blissfully indifferent to his surroundings

But then, Vinod Khanna was no ordinary man. Something stirred him up so deep that he quit stardom, his film projects mid-way and even his family back home to join his guru Rajneesh Osho in Rajneeshpuram, in Oregon, USA. 

But, before moving to Oregon, Vinod Khanna stayed at the Osho Ashram in Koregaon Park, Punebetween 1976 and 1980. In 1980, Vinod Khanna moved to the US with Osho Rajneesh.

During his stay at Rajneeshpuram in Oregon, Khanna served as a gardener, unfazed by his reputation of a Bollywood star.