Vinod Khanna: masculinity so adaptable

[I wanted to make this really well researched and carefully thought out, but each time I try, I just fall down a hole of youtube links and sadness. So it's going to be emotional and personal instead. Vinod Khanna is my first experience with the death of a film star death whose work I really care about. When Feroz Khan died, I had yet to learn how great he is, and Rajesh Khanna still has no particular pull for me.]

I don't know if Vinod Khanna was the first major star to move from hero to villain so quickly and easily, but I think that switching gave his persona a fluidity that meant he fit into a lot of different roles easily. Somewhere in each of them (or at least the ones I've seen), there is a core of rooted, concentrated, secure reliability. He seems so grounded to me, in a way that is confident without being bombastic. Sometimes that comes in a very physical form, which Khanna projects so easily, thanks to his height and build. Sometimes it is very emotional, stemming out of whatever big identity reveal or catharsis of love the masala formula had laid out. His strength is as believable in badge-backed khakis as it is in the plaid bell-bottoms of a gold smuggler or smeared with a black tilak and blood of the innocents. He is a protector, someone who fights for something, rather than a willy-nilly basher-up.

In the palette of fillum masculinity circa 1980 that ranges from petulant man-child to aggressive, absurd machismo to ideals-based philosophizing to starry-eyed lover, he tapped into points in between in different ways depending on the role and film, always believably. When he (or the director) chooses, he's as soulful as Amitabh Bachchan, as swaggering as Feroz Khan, as twinkly-eyed charming as Shashi Kapoor, and as come-hither as Dharmendra.

Esteemed friend Jai Arjun Singh says he thinks Vinod was a little bland in his positive roles, but I have to disagree. Like Shashi, he is a good actor who knows how and why to refrain from hogging. And also like Shashi, it's hugely unfortunate that his most famous role is a cop with little to work with beyond goody-goodyness (Deewaar and Amar Akbar Anthony, both films that I resent for their mis-use of my favorite people). But even in a role like stodgy, flat Amar, can you imagine anyone else blinding suspects with interrogation room lamps with a snap of his fingers or flipping Bachchan head over teakettle from a handshake? I can't.

I want to posit that, simply put, if you are attracted to men, Vinod Khanna will never be bland, because he is sex on two feet. It's not just that he's utterly tall, dark, and handsome with melty brown eyes and a beautiful smile—which he absolutely is—or the sort of believably strong-looking form that comes from doing actual work rather than spending hours at the gym for vanity, or that he can be very funny without a stitch of the ridiculous about him. He's all these things without being too much of any of them. I can't really explain it, but he inspires more * fans self * than any other star. If you can...er, put your finger on it more articulately, please do so in the comments.

A hero (and villain) who rarely resorts to heroics. Very, very missed already.

My list* of essential Vinod Khanna films:

• Hera Pheri
• Parvarish
• Maha Badmash
• Rihaee
• Inkaar
• Gaddaar
• Mera Gaon Mera Desh
• 99

All of my Vinod Khanna-related posts are at this link (along with those on Rahul and Akshaye). And here is a Filmfare article on his decision to leave the film industry in 1978.

* Not yours, so please do not tell me what you think I forgot.