Khanna was born in Kota, Rajasthan into a Khatri family. He completed his junior school from Delhi and high school from Luthra Academy and Model School (MIER), Jammu. Thereafter he went on to pursue his graduation in acting from National School of Drama, New Delhi. On completion of his graduation in 1993, he moved to Mumbai and started working as an actor in both theater and films together. He received the Charles Wales India Trust Award in the year 1999–2000 to pursue his studies in the UK at Central School of Speech & Drama, London, where he completed a certificate course in MA Performance Studies and Voice Studies.
Theatre career
Khanna started working in theater as an actor with Natrang in Jammu and Kashmir. He has traveled widely with his performances to countries including Germany, Japan, and Brazil. Some of his performances were Hooriya[1] directed by Anamika Haksar (1997); Sundari: An Actor Prepares and Makeup (2002) by Anuradha Kapur (1998); Odysseus in A Ramayan Odyssey by Jatinder Verma of Tara Arts, London; No Boat in Sight by Makoto Sato and Anuradha Kapur (2002); The Antigone Project by Ein Lall and Anuradha Kapur (2003).[2] He received acclaim for his performance in Glass House Project[3][better source needed] where he spent 15 days in a glass house. It was an initiative by National School of Drama for 10th Bharat Rang Mahotsava. He directed the Garbage Project[4] which was showcased in 13th Bharat Rang Mahotsava[5] (International Theatre Festival) organized by National School of Drama in 2011. Another project is Surviving Survival Vienna Wiener Festwochen 2011.[6] Khanna has conducted several workshops on voice, speech and acting in India and abroad. Among the cities he has worked in are Jammu, Srinagar, Mandi, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Pune, and Delhi in India; and Daegu and Tokyo in South Korea and Japan respectively. He is also a visiting faculty at the National School of Drama and Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University. Khanna was also involved in theater therapy programs initiated by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in Jammu and Kashmir for three years.
Khanna belongs to a middle-class family hailing from Jammu. His parents migrated from Lahore to Delhi and lived in different cities before they finally settled in Jammu during early 1980s. He has one brother and one sister. Being a nature lover, he loves to travel to the mountains and interacting with people. He is fluent in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and English.