He made the shift from playing a villain to a protagonist with ease and success, and held his own against stars such as Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachhan. In his 60s, Vinod Khanna today is mature than before and choosy about his roles.
After forgettable roles in “Risk” and “Wanted”, Vinod is upbeat about playing Krishan Raj in “Red Alert”.
Change in path
“My character of the revolutionary in ‘Red Alert' has no resemblance to Kobad Ghandy. Krishan Raj is an idealist who takes to armed revolution against the system, not against the nation. He later realises that the bloody path he chose has no end, and changes his philosophy towards life,” he says.
“When Ananth Mahadevan approached me with the script, I was excited about this character with substance, well-written screenplay and natural dialogues. I've always believed in natural performances, and this film has helped me give one. Shooting with professionals such as Suniel Shetty, Seema Biswas, Ayesha Dharker and Ashish Vidyarthi was an enjoyable experience. The professionalism of performers today is really appreciable, as they all believe in team work.”
Vinod, who has given memorable performances in “Mera Gaon Mera Desh, “Achanak”, “Mere Apne”, “Amar Akbar Anthony” and “Inkaar”, smiles at the mention of “Mere Apne”. “It is my most personal film till date, and Gulzar got the best out of me. ‘Mere Apne' was a realistic take on unemployed, educated youth being misguided by the system and corrupt politicians.” Vinod, who rates Raj Khosla, Manmohan Desai and Raj N. Sippy, among some of the talented directors he has worked with, shared a great onscreen rapport with his mentor Dharmendra, Asha Parekh, Hema Malini and Dimple Kapadia.
Brilliant themes
About the current trend in films, Vinod says: “Cinema has witnessed a sea change in the last decade. In some of my films of the late 1970s and mid-1980s, I only had to concentrate on my physique and action sequences; inane romantic scenes and meaningless dialogues made up the rest. Today, gifted directors such as Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Anurag Kashyap and Vishal Bharadwaj are experimenting with brilliant themes in mainstream cinema, and viewers too accept realistic cinema,” says Vinod, a Guru Dutt discovery, who made his debut in “Man Ka Meet”. He rates actors Aamir Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol and Vidya Balan as wonderful performers.
As the conversation veers towards television, he says: “I am ready to work for television serials as well as tele films, if the roles are challenging. After ‘Mere Apne' (for television), nothing of that calibre has been offered to me.”
