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Vinod Khanna left for heavenly abode on April 27, 2017 after a battle with cancer and left a void in Bollywood that cannot be filled. The actor had been in the hospital since March 31 and had been suffering with an advanced case of bladder cancer. One of the most handsome men and the poster boy of the 80s, Vinod Khanna was the epitome of male beauty. His droopy eyes, that sharp nose and unmissable cleft on the chin, complemented with his effortless performance, made him popular amongst women while making him any filmmaker’s favourite.
No wonder then, when the makers of The Dirty Picture starring Vidya Balan were designing a magazine cover to be part of a crucial scene in the film, they couldn’t think of anyone better than Vinod Khanna. In a scene in the film, loosely based on the life and times of film actress Silk Smitha famous for her erotic roles, Rajesh Sharma, who plays producer Selva Ganesha, is seen reading out a review from a popular magazine.
While the magazine doesn’t have great things to say about Silk’s boldness, it has the star (Vidya Balan) as the cover girl. But that’s not all! The back cover of the magazine has Vinod Khanna in his handsomest best. Talking about how this cover came about, Praveen Fernandez, Assistant Director on The Dirty Picture revealed exclusively to India.com, “Years ago when I was doing the post-production of The Dirty Picture, there was a magazine cover that had to be entered in VFX. The front cover was Vidya Balan’s character and I had the opportunity to choose the back cover. I sourced Mr. Khanna’s vintage Cinthol print ad. (ALSO READ: Sanjay Dutt had to take special permission to meet ‘father’ Vinod Khanna at the hospital)
A still from The Dirty Picture
With the charm that Khanna exuded, we understand that making that choice must have been simple. Fernandez worked along with Rajiv Rajashekharan, the VFX expert on The Dirty Picture. Reminiscing about the time, Rajashekharan told India.com, “There is no doubt that Vinod Khanna is one of the greatest actors in Indian cinema and he was his handsomest best in the Cinthol ad commercial. While there were debates about placing an ad as the back cover, Khanna’s charming and smart shoot brought everyone on the same page.” (ALSO READ: Just 3 days before Vinod Khanna’s death, son Rahul Khanna’s cryptic message had revealed it all!)
Now, with the actor gone bringing an end to an era, both Fernandez and Rajashekharan were shocked when the pictures of a frail looking Khanna at the hospital went viral. But they are glad that people have only positive things to say about the actor. “It is amazing to see that so many people have such positive and affectionate things to write about him. I never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Vinod Khanna. He was of course an actor in my wish list to work with,” revealed an emotional Fernandez stating that his favourite film starring Vinod Khanna was Mere Apne and the more recent, 99.
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