Vinod Khanna’s second wife reveals why he would meditate naked on beach; smoked 40-80 cigarettes a day

New Delhi: Veteran Bollywood actor-politician Vinod Khanna battled bladder cancer and breathed his last in 2017, leaving behind his grieving family and heartbroken fans. Years after his demise, actor's second wife Kavita Khanna shared a video on her YouTube channel where she spoke about how Vinod Khanna's cancer journey and how spirituality changed him.

Vinod Khanna's second wife on his cancer journey

Kavita revealed that though Khanna died of bladder cancer, back in 2001, the actor was also diagnosed with lung cancer. She said, "It was 2001 when Vinod had a diagnosis of lung cancer. He’d gone for his annual checkup, and they saw patches in the lungs. He’d smoke 40 to 80 cigarettes a day. We went to the leading MRI specialists of Mumbai, and they all said it was lung cancer."

She in fact mentioned how the doctors told them they would have to remove half of his lung. However, they preferred to keep it private and also sought guidance from their spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (fondly called Gurudev) before proceeding with surgery.

She shared how Gurudev advised them to first consult the head of Oncology at AIIMS, Delhi, and get this nod on whether the surgery can take place after 2 months as meanwhile Vinod Khanna could practice breathwork. She added that after the 'go-ahead' from doctor, Gurudev suggested that the actor visit the ashram in Rishikesh and practise Sudarshan Kriya there three times a day.

“Later, we went to Germany. One evening, Vinod got this terrible pain somewhere around his shoulder. He was just lying in pain for two days. Then Gurudev came to see how he was, and then suggested we get an X-ray done. There was no broken rib, but the important thing was there’s no cancer. Unbelievable! We came back via London, they saw all the reports, and couldn’t accept there’s been a complete cure. They just thought reports got mixed up in India.. No lung cancer came back,” said Kavita.

However, the actor was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2010. 

“The prognosis was if he did everything that allopathy had to offer, there was a 25% chance he’d be alive after two years. Vinod then called Gurudev and said, ‘I’ve lived a full life. And if my time to go has come, I’m ready to go. But I don’t want to torture my body.’ So, Gurudev asked him to come to the ashram and do the panchkarma. In two years from when he was first diagnosed, the cancer was gone. We did the scans in America, and it was gone”.

She also shared how the spiritual guru asked Khanna to quit drinking, revealing that he would drink one or two glasses of alcohol every evening. Kavita added "he was still in very good health when it started declining. He finally died of bladder cancer."

Kavita On Vinod Khanna's Spiritual Journey

She revealed how spirituality had always been part of Vinod’s personality. “Vinod was very spiritual from when he was a child. When he was 17, he bought the book ‘Autobiography of Yogi’ and at that time, he said that he didn’t realise then that Osho was in the same bookstore at the same time."

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“The tipping point from giving up this unbelievable material life that he had… the adoration he had, and the success… was when a number of deaths happened in the family within two years. So, when his mother passed, he just went to Osho and took sanyas."

She added how life at Oregon ashram was different. “He was Osho‘s gardener. Osho’s home was private, and very few people had access to it, but if you were the gardener, you were there. That was his seva."

 “In Oregon, Osho had these fabulous flowing ropes, which were designed for him, and all of them used to be tried on Vinod because of their same shoulder size," she said.

His spiritual journey, Kavita mentioned had started even before he formally joined the ashram. “Even when he was in Mumbai before he moved to Pune ashram, the meditations on Chowpatty Beach in Bombay, which is right at the centre of this throbbing city, and everyone took their clothes off, and they were meditating naked in a circle on the beach."

She clarified his intention and said, “I know Vinod was not there looking for the physical part of it, I think his journey was a spiritual one with immense commitment and devotion."

About Vinod Khanna

Vinod Khanna made his Bollywood debut in 1968 and did supporting and antagonistic roles. He was seen in Mere Apne (1971), Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), Achanak (1973). Some of his other movies include Haath Ki Safai, Imtihan, Patthar Aur Payal, Prem Kahani, Qaid, Hera Pheri co-starring Amitabh Bachchan, Saira Banu and Sulakshana Pandit.

He then delivered two more major successes with Shankar Shambhu and Nehle Pe Dehla, respectively. Khoon Pasina alongside Bachchan and Rekha, which proved to be a superhit. His second release was Manmohan Desai's multi-starrer masala film Amar Akbar Anthony.

In 1982, at the peak of his career, Vinod Khanna took a five-year hiatus from films to follow his spiritual guru, Osho Rajneesh. He made a comeback with Insaaf in 1987.

In 2018, Khanna was posthumously honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India's highest cinematic award, at the 65th Film Awards. 

He was also seen in Wanted (2009), Dabangg (2010), and Dabangg 2 (2012) - all three starring Salman Khan. His last movie to release 3 years after his death was Guns of Banaras (2020).