Veteran U.P. exhibitor Ravi Khanna died suddenly late last night (9th April) in Delhi following a heart attack. He was 68 and is survived by his wife, a son, two sisters and their families. He will be cremated at 11.45 a.m. today (10th) at Lodhi in Delhi.
Ravi Khanna used to own Nishat and Novelty cinemas of Kanpur but had sold both of them about a decade ago. He had a construction business after that and was also busy with his son’s software business. The Khannas were in exhibition business since before Independence. Ravi represented the third generation in this business. His grandfather, Gur Narain Khanna, who had started the exhibition business, used to own a cinema in Karachi. The business was continued by Ravi’s father, Kanwal Narain Khanna, and then Ravi himself. For 32 years till 1980, the Khannas used to run Novelty cinema of Lucknow.
Although Ravi Khanna had given up exhibition business since 10 years, he was still a popular figure in Delhi-U.P. trade circles. The news of his sudden demise sent shock waves in the trade.