Vinod Khanna to be honoured through special event in his hometown Peshawar

Lahore: Remembering Vinod Khanna as a proud Peshawari, people in his birth place here today paid tributes to the veteran Hindi film actor and said the Cultural Heritage Council will organise an event in his honour.

“Khanna was born in Peshawar on 6 October, 1946 at Sardar area in Cantonment jurisdiction. His father Mehr Chand Khanna was a prominent businessman and former Minister in Congress,” said Muhammad Ibrahim Zia, a renowned film historian in Peshawar.

Zia is also the author of Peshawar the Funkar (Artists of Peshawar), highlighting the actors who belonged to Peshawar and worked in different film industries in the last 100 years.

Zia said he met Khanna in 2014 during a visit to India as part of a delegation to meet legendary actor Dilip Kumar who also belonged to Peshawar. “During our meeting with Khanna, he was very happy over reunion with people of his birth place Peshawar.”

His father Mehr Chand was a well-off person in Peshawar and migrated to India in 1947 when Khanna was an infant. In the late 1990s during a function in Dubai, Khanna “proudly announced on stage that he is a Peshawari”, Zia said, adding that his ancestral home in Peshawar is intact and being used by All Pakistan Women’s Association.

During the meeting with Khanna, the delegation presented him with gifts including Peshawar Chappali (footwear) and a traditional dress which he accepted happily. Zia said he also presented a copy of his book to the star.

“In his autograph, Khanna extended his good wishes to people of Peshawar and expressed desire of visiting his ancestral city,” said Shakeel Waheedullah, General Secretary Cultural Heritage Council Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He was also in the delegation which met Khanna in 2014.

Khanna wanted to visit Peshawar to see the area where his parents and forefathers lived. He had sent a request for his visit to Pakistan, but could not succeed, Shakeel said. Shakeel said the Cultural Heritage Council Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will soon hold an event in honour of Khanna.

Khanna passed away at HN Reliance Hospital in Mumbai on the morning of 27 April. He was 70. The veteran Hindi film actor breathed his last at 11:20 AM due to advanced bladder carcinoma. In a career spanning five decades, Khanna starred in over 140 films.