Akshaye Khanna says Vinod Khanna would never have returned if Osho’s US commune wasn’t ‘disbanded, destroyed’

Actor Akshaye Khanna is among the most talented yet least visible stars of Bollywood. The actor, who made a mark as a troubled youngster in Farhan Akhtar’ Dil Chahta Hai, returned to the big screen last year with The Accidental Prime Minister and Section 375. He will be seen next in Sab Kushal Mangal Hai. Akshaye spoke to Mid Day about his career and his relationship with his father, late Vinod Khanna.

Ever since the Netflix series on controversial godman Rajneesh, there has been a renewed interest in him and his philosophy. Unwittingly, Akshaye has had a close association with the cult, thanks to Vinod Khanna becoming an avowed follower to the guru. Speaking about the time Vinod Khanna decided to leave his family and the worldly life to become a sanyasi (monk), Akshaye said that he was only four or five when his father left them, adding that it was only when he turned 15 or 16 that he realised what had happened. “One doesn’t look at it like that at five. Osho had nothing to do with my thoughts about why my dad wasn’t there. That came much later. As one grows, maybe 15 or 16, you start learning, listening or reading about the person who…”

“To not only leave his family, but to take ‘sanyaas’ (renunciation). Sanyaas means giving up your life in totality — family is [only] a part of it. It’s a life-changing decision, which he felt that he needed to take at the time. As a five-year-old, it was impossible [for me] to understand it. I can understand it now.”

Explaining further, he said he did eventually understand that something deep within must have moved his father to give up everything. “In the sense that something must have moved him so deeply inside that he felt that kind of decision was worth it for him. Especially, when you have everything in life. And when life doesn’t look as though there’s much more that you can have.”

What is perhaps not known or spoken about is why Vinod Khanna decided to come back. Explaining that, Akshaye mentioned it wasn’t a sudden change of heart that made his father return. He said, “A very basic fault-line/earthquake has to occur within oneself to make that decision. But also stick by it. One can make the decision and say this doesn’t suit me — let’s go back. But that didn’t happen. And circumstances in America with Osho and the colony, friction with the US government — that was the reason he came back.”

On the question that many believed his father got disillusioned with Osho, Akshaye said that was never the case. “From whatever memories I have about my father talking about that time in his life, I don’t think that was a reason at all. It was just the fact that the commune was disbanded, destroyed, and everybody had to find their own way. That’s when he came back. Otherwise I don’t think he would’ve ever come back.”

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