Son of ex-model Gitanjali Taleyarkhan and matinee idol Vinod Khanna, Rahul Khanna has been in the limelight since he was seventeen. He has been into video jockeying, acting, and modeling ever since. A wonderful anchor, Khanna is charismatic and good looking. Rahul was hired as the first VJ for MTV Asia’s relaunch following the much publicized split from Rupert Murdoch’s Star TV Network. He spent four years with the channel. As a VJ for MTV Asia, Rahul Khanna reached the zenith of popularity. He hosted a variety of programmes, like MTV’s Most Wanted, Hollywood Screening Room, MTV Hanging Out, MTV Fresh, MTV India Hitlist. His perfect ease in front of the camera and gorgeous looks made Khanna an instant hit.
He has done a course from Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and film & video at The School of Visual Arts. He has hosted two television shows, Saturday Live and Bombay Glitter, on New York’s ITV Asianet.
He has now moved on from MTV into the world of films where his brother and father are already well established stars. A gifted cartoonist, Khanna has his hands full with Bollywood projects.
It was on MTV that Canadian director Deepa Mehta saw Khanna and cast him as the romantic lead in Earth, the second instalment in her Indian trilogy and the follow-up to her critically acclaimed, award winning and controversial movie, Fire. Earth premiered as a special presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 1998. The film received a 10 minute standing ovation, and Khanna was named one of “the best and brightest new talents” of the Festival by the movie critics of the Toronto Star. He also won the Filmfare award for most promising male debut in 1999.
Rahul has also been seen on the New York stage. He made his theatrical debut starring in the New York production of the hit West-End play, East is East. Directed by Scott Elliott (A Map of the World), Rahul’s performance as Tariq, the rebellious son of a Pakistani father and British mother, won him acclaim from audiences and critics, alike.
Since then Rahul has starred in various films featured in small and big roles such as Deepa Mehta’s Bollywood Hollywood, Spike Lee’s 3 AM, Kevin Kline starrer The Emperor’s Club and has upcoming projects such as Vikram Bhatt’s blockbuster multi-starrer Elaan.