The many lives of VINOD KHANNA

Actor, devotee, politician, and Bollywood's coveted "Angry Young Man", Vinod Khanna's whirlwind life odyssey is filled with being at the right place, at the right time

Mitabh Bachchan has often been beaten up on screen, but his assailants have subsequently got their deserts. However, this actor, Bollywood's original "Angry Young Man," got applause when he thrashed Big B in full public view, flinging him into a chicken coop and bringing him out unconscious on his broad shoulders.

Vinod Khanna could make his presence felt, no matter the caliber of those he shared the screen with. It was no mean feat, as this list includes the likes of Shammi Kapoor, Dharmendra, Rajesh Khanna, Meena Kumari, Raj Kumar, Feroz Khan, Shatrughan Sinha, Rajinikanth, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, and Shahrukh Khan, besides Amitabh Bachchan.

The Bollywood all-rounder Born on October 6 in Peshawar in 1946, Khanna began as a villain but transformed into an evergreen hero by popular acclaim with his chiseled features, striking physique, and an intense emoting capability that spanned a charismatic machismo to an endearing vulnerability.

But it was cricket that was his first love; he once admitted, noting that he had played a fair amount but plumped for films when he realized that "I couldn't be a (Gundappa) Vishwanath."