Vinod Khanna smoked 40 to 80 cigarettes a day reveals wife: 'He battled lung cancer….'

In 2017, the renowned actor and politician Vinod Khanna passed away after battling bladder cancer. His second wife, Kavita Khanna, has now shared previously unknown details about his struggle with cancer, revealing that he was initially diagnosed with lung cancer in 2001, attributed to his heavy smoking. She also disclosed that after his bladder cancer diagnosis, he was strongly advised to abstain from alcohol.

Kavita Khanna claims Vinod Khanna had lung cancer too

Kavita Khanna, Vinod Khanna's second wife, reflected on her late husband's battle with cancer in a video shared on her YouTube channel.

It was 2001 when Vinod had a diagnosis of lung cancer. He’d gone for his annual checkup, and they saw patches in the lungs. He’d smoke 40 to 80 cigarettes a day. We went to the leading MRI specialists of Mumbai, and they all said it was lung cancer, said Kavita mentioned that the doctors informed them they would need to remove half of his lung.

Kavita and Vinod Khanna decided to keep the diagnosis private, seeking advice from their spiritual leader, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, before considering surgery. She recounted that "Gurudev," as they affectionately called him, recommended consulting the head of oncology at AIIMS Delhi to explore the possibility of delaying the procedure for a month or two while Vinod focused on breathwork. With the doctor's approval, Gurudev then suggested that Vinod visit the ashram in Rishikesh and practice Sudarshan Kriya three times daily.

Later, we went to Germany. One evening, Vinod got this terrible pain somewhere around his shoulder. He was just lying in pain for two days. Then Gurudev came to see how he was, and then suggested we get an X-ray done. There was no broken rib, but the important thing was there’s no cancer. Unbelievable! We came back via London, they saw all the reports, and couldn’t accept there’s been a complete cure. They just thought reports got mixed up in India.. No lung cancer came back, recalled Kavita.

Vinod diagnosed with bladder cancer

Vinod was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2010, with Kavita mentioning, The prognosis was if he did everything that allopathy had to offer, there was a 25% chance he’d be alive after two years. Vinod then called Gurudev and said, ‘I’ve lived a full life. And if my time to go has come, I’m ready to go. But I don’t want to torture my body.’ So, Gurudev asked him to come to the ashram and do the panchkarma. In two years from when he was first diagnosed, the cancer was gone. We did the scans in America, and it was gone.

About Vinod Khanna

In 2017, Vinod Khanna, celebrated for his roles in motion pictures such as "Mere Apne" and "Qurbani," passed away at seventy. He was battling advanced bladder carcinoma and was receiving treatment at the HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai. Prior to his demise, a widely circulated photograph on social media showed a visibly frail Vinod Khanna.

Following this, Kavita mentioned that their spiritual guru advised Vinod Khanna to stop drinking, revealing that the actor would have one or two glasses of alcohol each evening. Kavita shared that "he was still in very good health when it started declining. He finally died of bladder cancer".

In the 1982, at the zenith of his illustrious career, Vinod Khanna decided to take a temporary hiatus from the world of acting to dedicate himself to following spiritual leader Osho Rajneesh. He subsequently made a triumphant return to the industry, gracing films such as Wanted, Dabangg, and Dilwale. His life was marked by both professional success and personal relationships. He was formerly wedded to Geetanjali, with whom he shared two sons, Rahul Khanna and Akshaye Khanna, prior to their divorce in nineteen eighty-five. Five years later, he entered into matrimony with Kavita, and together, they welcomed two children, Sakshi and Shraddha.