Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Sunday met family members of Bollywood actor Vinod Khanna at his residence in south Mumbai and condoled his demise. Mahajan met Kavita Khanna and other family members of the former Union minister at his house in south Mumbai, an aide to the Speaker told PTI. Khanna passed away in Mumbai on April 27 and was cremated the same day. His memorial meeting would be held here on May 3 at the Nehru Centre in Worli at 5.30 pm, family sources said. The actor had begun his Bollywood innings as Shyam in Gulzar's 1971 film "Mere Apne", where he stood out as a disillusioned young man. He got his first break as a hero in "Hum Tum Aur Woh" (1971). A great many films followed including hits such as "Elaan" and "Mera Gaon Mera Desh". Khanna shocked his fans when, at the height of his career, he left Bollywood to follow his spiritual guru, Osho Rajneesh, to Oregon in the United States in 1982. Although married with two children, Akshaye and Rahul (both of whom are actors) he left his wife, Geetanjali, and the sons, to be with Rajneesh. The marriage ended in divorce in 1985. After the actor returned to cinema, a string of hits followed including "Insaaf" and "Dayavan". In 1990, he married Kavita, with whom he had a son, Sakshi, and a daughter, Shraddha. The actor, who was born in a Punjabi family of textile merchants in Peshawar in 1946, chose Punjab to make his political debut in 1997 when he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He fought and won from Gurdaspur in Punjab a seat that he lost only once in 2009 but won again in the 2014 general elections. In 2002, Atal Bihari Vajpayee made him his Culture and Tourism minister. He was later given the External Affairs portfolio. Till the very end, Khanna was active in Bollywood. His last few memorable screen outings were in Salman Khan's "Dabangg" series and Shah Rukh Khan's "Dilwale" in 2015.
