Akshaye Khanna is currently enjoying the success of his latest release, Dhurandhar. Directed by Aditya Dhar, the film features him as a Pakistani gangster named Rehman Dakait.
Despite being part of the film industry for years, Akshaye has always kept his personal life private. In an old interview with Mid-day, he opened up about his childhood and spoke about his father Vinod Khanna's decision to leave his family and acting career to follow Osho's teachings.
Akshaye said, "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.”
Reflecting on his father's decision, the actor acknowledged that it must have been a deeply profound experience for him.
"Something must have moved him so deeply inside that he felt that that kind of decision was worth it for him. Especially when you have everything in life. 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," Akshaye Khanna added.
When asked why he believed his father eventually returned to his family, the actor replied, "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 and 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.”
Vinod Khanna took sanyaas in 1982 and joined Osho's ashram in Oregon, USA. He returned to India around 1985 and continued working in films until his death in 2017.