Osho urged Vinod Khanna to join politics and challenge Amitabh Bachchan in elections: ‘It was also about losing his place in Bollywood’

At the peak of his film career, Vinod Khanna shocked Bollywood by stepping away from stardom to follow spiritual leader Osho. But behind this life-altering move was a deeper emotional struggle — and a surprising piece of advice from the guru himself: to return to India and stand against none other than Amitabh Bachchan in politics.
In a chat with Hindi Rush, Osho’s brother, Swami Shailendra Saraswati, opened up about the emotional storm Vinod went through while living at the Rajneeshpuram ashram in the United States. It turns out, Vinod wasn’t just seeking peace — he was also battling feelings of loss, jealousy, and inner confusion.

Actor who walked away from everything
Khanna left his booming film career, his wife, and two young sons — Akshaye and Rahul Khanna — to live as a sanyasi in Osho’s commune in Oregon. He even worked as a gardener at Osho’s house, completely changing his lifestyle. Swami Shailendra, who lived next door to him at the ashram, said,
“These people are ‘sapno ke saudagar’. They sell dreams to the masses. They are the creators of dreams. But their lives are often not at all like what they project on screen. I can speak about Vinod Khanna, because I was very close to him. Our homes at Rajneeshpuram were right next to each other, coincidentally. I knew him well. He would often express sadness at missing his wife and children to me.”

Vinod Khanna used to work as a gardener at Osho’s house
According to Shailendra, Osho noticed Vinod’s sadness and decided to dig deeper. When he was told that Vinod missed his family, Osho gave advice no one expected. “He used to work as a gardener at Osho’s house, and Osho would observe him. He noticed that Vinod was sad. He asked around about him, and he was told that Vinod was missing his family. Osho said, ‘No, he isn’t missing his family. Tell him to return to India, and go up against Amitabh Bachchan in the elections’. I was surprised to hear this. Vinod Khanna was surprised to hear this. I never thought that he had political ambitions at all.”
At first, it might have sounded random, but Osho had a reason behind the suggestion. He believed Vinod’s sadness wasn’t just about his kids — it was also about losing his place in Bollywood. “Osho said, ‘Tum Bharat jao, aur chunav lado Bachchan ke khilaaf’.”
Missing family… or missing fame?
Swami Shailendra further said, “Osho was able to gaze inside Vinod Khanna’s soul and identify what was troubling him. There was a wound in his subconscious mind about Amitabh becoming the number one star in his absence, but his conscious mind was pretending that he was upset about his family.”
Later, Vinod did return to India — and eventually joined politics. He became a Member of Parliament for the BJP and even served as Union Minister of State.