Rahul Khanna
Encyclopedia

Early life and background

Khanna was born and raised in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

. His father is Bollywood matinee idol & politician, Vinod Khanna
Vinod Khanna
-Early life:Khanna was born to Kamla and Kishanchand Khanna, a textiles, dyes and chemicals businessman of Hindu Punjabi Khatri origin, on 6 October 1946, in Peshawar, British India . He has three sisters and one brother...

, and his younger brother is Bollywood actor, Akshaye Khanna
Akshaye Khanna
Akshaye Khanna is a critically acclaimed Indian film actor who works in Hindi cinema. Known for his impeccable acting talent and flawless diction, Khanna has worked with the best names in Indian cinema.- Background :...

.

Khanna studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and the School of Visual Arts
School of Visual Arts
The School of Visual Arts , is a proprietary art school located in Manhattan, New York City, and is widely considered to be one of the leading art schools in the United States. It was established in 1947 by co-founders Silas H. Rhodes and Burne Hogarth as the Cartoonists and Illustrators School and...

 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

Career

Khanna began his career as a VJ (video jockey) with MTV Asia in 1994. Throughout his 4-year stint he enjoyed immense popularity, an enormous fan following across Asia and consistently glowing media coverage.

Film

He made his feature film debut in Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta, LLD is a Genie Award-winning Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, most known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire , Earth , and Water , among which Earth was submitted by Indian government for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film...

's 1947 Earth, alongside Aamir Khan
Aamir Khan
Aamir Hussain Khan is an Indian film actor, director and producer who has established himself as one of the leading actors of Hindi cinema....

 . His performance garnered him several awards including the Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for Best Debut. He has since also appeared in Mehta's Bollywood/Hollywood
Bollywood/Hollywood
Bollywood/Hollywood is a 2002 film by Indo-Canadian director Deepa Mehta. It is lighthearted, humorous, and family-oriented in nature, as opposed to Mehta's other films , which feature very serious themes and focus on social issues.The film pokes fun at traditional Indian stereotypes, as well as at...

(2003).

Rahul's mainstream Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 films include Elaan
Elaan
Elaan is a Bollywood film, released in January 2005. Elaan is an explosive tale of a nation on the edge, pushed to the margins by diabolic elements out to ignite global terror. More precisely, it is a mission film about five characters and their elaan against one man...

and Raqeeb
Raqeeb
Raqeeb is a 2007 Bollywood romantic musical film. It stars Rahul Khanna, Jimmy Shergill, Sharman Joshi and Tanushree Dutta in the lead roles. It was produced by Raj Kanwar and directed by Anurag Singh....

.

Khanna's international credits include The Emperor's Club
The Emperor's Club
The Emperor's Club is a 2002 drama film that tells the story of a prep school teacher and his students. Based on Ethan Canin's short story "The Palace Thief," the film is directed by Michael Hoffman and stars Kevin Kline. The film is set at a fictional boys' prep school, St. Benedict's Academy,...

with Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline
Kevin Delaney Kline is an American theatre, voice, film actor and comedian. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Emmy Award.- Early life :...

.

Theatre

East is East, 1999. The New York production of Ayub Khan-Din
Ayub Khan-Din
Ayub Khan-Din is a British Pakistani actor and playwright.As an actor, Khan-Din participated in some 20 British films and TV series in the late 1980s and the 1990s...

's hit West End play, was directed by Scott Elliott (A Map of the World (film)
A Map of the World (film)
A Map Of The World is a drama released in the year 1999, based on the novel of the same name by Jane Hamilton. It was directed by Scott Eliott. The movie stars Sigourney Weaver, Julianne Moore, David Strathairn, and Chloe Sevigny...

) and Khanna's performance as Tariq, the rebellious, playboy son of a Pakistani father and British mother, won him acclaim from audiences and critics, alike.

Television

MTV Asia, VJ, 1994–1998

Discovery Week, host, Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...

, 2006

Khanna has also hosted numerous events like the IIFA Awards, the Miss India
Miss India
Miss India or Femina Miss India is a national beauty pageant in India, one of the most recognized contests to produce international beauty queens in the 90s, which annually selects three winners to compete globally. It is organized by Femina, a women's magazine published by Bennett, Coleman & Co...

 pageant, the Screen Awards, the Stardust (magazine)
Stardust (magazine)
Stardust is an Indian monthly Bollywood news and gossip magazine published in English and Hindi. It also sponsors the Stardust Awards.-History:...

 Awards, the Miss India Worldwide pageant, Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell is a British model. Scouted at the age of 15, she established herself among the top three most recognisable and in-demand models of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and she was one of six models of her generation declared "supermodels" by the fashion world...

's Fashion for Relief show at Mumbai Fashion Week and the GQ (India) Men of the Year Awards 2009 & 2010, Teacher's Achievement Awards 2008 & 2010.

Commercials & Endorsements

Khanna has been associated with several brands including Toyota, Lay's
Lay's
Lay's is the brand name for a number of potato chip varieties as well as the name of the company that founded the chip brand in 1932. Lay's chips has been marketed as a division of Frito-Lay, a company owned by PepsiCo since 1965...

 Chips, Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...

, DTC (Diamond Trading Company
Diamond Trading Company
The Diamond Trading Company is the rough diamond sales and distribution arm of the De Beers Family of Companies. The DTC sorts, values and sells approximately 75% of the world’s rough diamonds by value...

/ De Beers
De Beers
De Beers is a family of companies that dominate the diamond, diamond mining, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. De Beers is active in every category of industrial diamond mining: open-pit, underground, large-scale alluvial, coastal and deep sea...

 group), Trent (Westside)
Trent (Westside)
Trent is the retail arm of the Tata group. Started in 1998, Trent operates Westside, one of the many growing retail chains in India based in Mumbai, Maharashtra.-History:...

, Tommy Hilfiger
Tommy Hilfiger
Thomas Jacob "Tommy" Hilfiger is an American fashion designer and founder of the premium lifestyle brand Tommy Hilfiger.-Early life:...

, Jaypee Group
Jaypee Group
The Jaypee Group is an Indian conglomerate based in Noida, India. It was founded by Jaiprakash Gaur which is involved in well diversified infrastructure conglomerate with business interests in Engineering & Construction, Power, Cement, Real Estate, Hospitality, Expressways, Sports & Education...

's Jaypee Greens, Johnnie Walker
Johnnie Walker
Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch Whisky owned by Diageo and originated in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland.It is the most widely distributed brand of blended Scotch whisky in the world, sold in almost every country with yearly sales of over 130 million bottles.-History:Originally known as Walker's...

 Blue Label and Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....

.

Khanna has appeared in a PETA
Peta
Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...

 India campaign to protect elephants.

Filmography

Year Title Role Director Other notes
1999 Earth
Earth (1998 film)
Earth is a 1998 film directed by Deepa Mehta. It is based upon Bapsi Sidhwa's novel, Cracking India, . Earth is the second part of Mehta's Elements trilogy...

 
Hassan Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta, LLD is a Genie Award-winning Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, most known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire , Earth , and Water , among which Earth was submitted by Indian government for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film...

 
Winner, Filmfare Best Male Debut Award
2001 3 AM Morris Lee Davis Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....

 (Producer)
2002 Bollywood/Hollywood
Bollywood/Hollywood
Bollywood/Hollywood is a 2002 film by Indo-Canadian director Deepa Mehta. It is lighthearted, humorous, and family-oriented in nature, as opposed to Mehta's other films , which feature very serious themes and focus on social issues.The film pokes fun at traditional Indian stereotypes, as well as at...

Rahul Seth Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta
Deepa Mehta, LLD is a Genie Award-winning Indian-born Canadian film director and screenwriter, most known for her Elements Trilogy, Fire , Earth , and Water , among which Earth was submitted by Indian government for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film...

 
The Emperor's Club
The Emperor's Club
The Emperor's Club is a 2002 drama film that tells the story of a prep school teacher and his students. Based on Ethan Canin's short story "The Palace Thief," the film is directed by Michael Hoffman and stars Kevin Kline. The film is set at a fictional boys' prep school, St. Benedict's Academy,...

Deepak Mehta Michael Hoffman
Michael Hoffman
Michael Lynn Hoffman is an American film director.-Life and career:Hoffman was born in Hawaii and grew up in Payette, Idaho, played basketball, and attended college at Boise State University. There he was elected as student body president of BSU...

 
2005 Elaan
Elaan
Elaan is a Bollywood film, released in January 2005. Elaan is an explosive tale of a nation on the edge, pushed to the margins by diabolic elements out to ignite global terror. More precisely, it is a mission film about five characters and their elaan against one man...

Karan Shah Vikram Bhatt
Vikram Bhatt
Vikram Bhatt is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter. He has more than 21 films to his credit. He is also the creative head of a conglomerate called ASA Productions.-Early life:...

 
2007 Raqeeb
Raqeeb
Raqeeb is a 2007 Bollywood romantic musical film. It stars Rahul Khanna, Jimmy Shergill, Sharman Joshi and Tanushree Dutta in the lead roles. It was produced by Raj Kanwar and directed by Anurag Singh....

Remo Matthews Anurag Singh Raj Kanwar
Raj Kanwar
Raj Kanwar is a Bollywood film director, writer and film producer based in Mumbai, India.-raj kanwar and abhay kanwar:Director:* Mad * Sadiyaan * Humko Deewana Kar Gaye * Andaaz * Ab Ke Baras * Farz...

 (Producer)
2008 Tahaan
Tahaan
Tahaan - a boy with a grenade is an Indian drama film by Santosh Sivan. The film is based on the life of a young boy and his pet donkey. It is a fable-like journey of the eponymous eight-year-old boy, whose life revolves around the pursuit to find real purpose in his little world. The film stars...

Kuka Saheb Santosh Sivan
Santosh Sivan
Santosh Sivan is an Indian cinematographer, film director, and producer who has worked in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, and Hindi cinema....

 
Special appearance
Dil Kabaddi
Dil Kabaddi
Dil Kabaddi is a Hindi film directed by debutante Anil Sharma . The film stars Irrfan Khan, Rahul Bose, Konkona Sen Sharma, Soha Ali Khan, Payal Rohatgi, Rahul Khanna and special appearance by Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan....

Veer Anil Senior
2009 Love Aaj Kal
Love Aaj Kal
Love Aaj Kal is a 2009 Bollywood film starring Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone in lead roles with Rahul Khanna, Rishi Kapoor and Giselli Monteiro in supporting roles. The film is directed by Imtiaz Ali and produced by Saif Ali Khan and Dinesh Vijan...

Vikram Joshi Imtiaz Ali
Imtiaz Ali
Imtiaz Ali is a former West Indian cricketer who played in one Test against India in 1976....

 
Special appearance
Wake Up Sid
Wake up Sid
Wake Up Sid is a 2009 Hindi romantic comedy film. It is directed by Ayan Mukerji, produced by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, distributed by UTV Motion Pictures, and has visual effects by the Prime Focus Group...

Kabir Chaudhary Ayan Mukherjee  Special appearance

External links

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