Deepti Naval remembers Vinod Khanna

Actor Vinod Khanna had planned to renounce the film industry and his superstardom during the late 1970s itself, recalls actress Deepti Naval.
Khanna, who passed away this morning, had stunned his fans and industry peers at the peak of his career when he took a sabbatical in 1982, leaving for the US to lead a spiritual life.
But such a drastic move by the actor, who had several blockbusters, including "Mera Gaon Mera Desh", "Reshma Aur Shera", "Elan", "Insaaf" and "Dayavan" under his belt, did not come overnight.
It was around 1976-77 and Deepti arrived in Bombay, as Mumbai was called then, to find a career in Hindi films when she first met Khanna, the then ruling heartthrob of the nation, on the sets of "Jallianawala Bagh".

"I first met him there and we interacted. I always found him pre-occupied... The first time when got talking to each other he was telling me how he had decided to leave the industry and go away," she told PTI.
"And I remember having this lengthy conversation with him about him leaving away this stardom and I was shocked. I was in America, I was this young girl who had come to Bombay to find a career in films and I wanted to all that he was giving up," she said.

It is a sad thing to lose him because it was too early, she remarked.

Almost 35 years since their first film together, Deepti teamed up with Khanna again for the 2002 released "Leela", a crossover film.
Deepti said since then she had been in touch with Khanna.
"We also exchanged mails regarding some of his projects in Punjab where he wanted me to get involved," she said.
Remembering Khanna as "a legend for the young girl who had arrived in Bombay", Deepti said she felt "shortchanged" for not having met with him after the recent reports of his illness.