Rahul Khanna (born 20 June 1972) is an Indian actor, VJ and writer who works in Bollywood. He is the elder son of actor Vinod Khanna and the elder brother of Akshaye Khanna.

Rahul Khanna
Khanna at the launch event of Van Heusen
Born (1972-06-20) 20 June 1972 (age 52)
Alma materLee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute
School of Visual Arts
Occupations
Years active1994–2023
FatherVinod Khanna
RelativesAkshaye Khanna (brother)

Early life and background

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Khanna was born and raised in Mumbai. His father was a Bollywood star & a politician, Vinod Khanna, his mother was ex-model Gitanjali Taleyar Khanna, and his younger brother is Bollywood actor, Akshaye Khanna.

Khanna studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Career

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Film

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He made his feature film debut in Deepa Mehta's 1947 Earth (1999), alongside Aamir Khan. His performance earned him several awards including the Filmfare Best Male Debut Award.[1] He has since appeared in Mehta's Bollywood/Hollywood (2003) and Wake up Sid starring Ranbir Kapoor and Konkana Sen Sharma.

Rahul's mainstream Bollywood films include Elaan and Raqeeb and his international credits include The Emperor's Club with Kevin Kline.

Television

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MTV Asia, VJ, 1994–1998

Asian Variety Show, Host, AVS TV Network, North America, 1999–2001

Discovery Week, Host, Discovery Channel, 2006

Khanna has also hosted numerous events like the IIFA Awards, the Miss India pageant, the Screen Awards, the Stardust (magazine) Awards, the Miss India Worldwide pageant, Naomi Campbell's Fashion for Relief show at Mumbai Fashion Week, the GQ (India) Men of the Year Awards 2009 & 2010, Teacher's Achievement Awards 2008 & 2010, The International Film Festival of India 2011, The Hello (magazine) Hall of Fame Awards 2011 and The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2012, to name just a few.

Commercials and endorsements

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Khanna has been associated with several brands including Toyota, Lay's Chips, Pepsi, DTC (Diamond Trading Company/ De Beers group), Trent (Westside), Tommy Hilfiger, Jaypee Group's Jaypee Greens, Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Kiehl's, Maggi and Audi.

Khanna has appeared in a PETA India campaign to protect elephants and birds.

Writing

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Khanna has a signature humorous writing style. Apart from writing for his own blog, his pieces and essays have been published in several leading newspapers, magazines and websites including Harper's Bazaar India, Vogue India, Cosmopolitan (magazine) India, Elle (India), GQ India, Marie Claire India, The Times of India, Deccan Herald and The Huffington Post India.

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1999 Earth Hassan Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut
2001 3 AM Morris
2002 Bollywood/Hollywood Rahul Seth
The Emperor's Club Deepak Mehta
2005 Elaan Karan Shah
2007 Raqeeb Remo Matthews
2008 Tahaan Kuka Saheb
Dil Kabaddi Rajveer Singh
2009 Love Aaj Kal Vikram Joshi
Wake Up Sid Kabir Chaudhary Chief Editor of Mumbai Beats' Magazine
2014 Fireflies Shiv
2023 Lost Ranjan Verma [2]

Television

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Year Title Role Director Notes
2013 24 Tarun Khosla Abhinay Deo Season 01 Episode 10 & 11
2014 The Americans Yousaf Rana Stefan Schwartz Episode: "Yousaf"
2015 Daniel Sackheim Episode: "EST Men"
Episode: "Baggage (The Americans)"
Kevin Dowling Episode: "Salang Pass"
Andrew Bernstein (director) Episode: "One Day in the Life of Anton Baklanov"
Daniel Sackheim Episode: "March 8, 1983"
2019 Leila Deepa Mehta

References

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  1. ^ "Dear Rahul Khanna, Get A Life. And A Career". 10 August 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury on Lost: It will make you question, introspect, and tug at your heartstrings". Pinkvilla. 11 October 2021. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
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