Ever since Dhurandhar arrived in theatres last December and took the box office by storm, the internet has been obsessed with Akshaye Khanna. The actor won us over with his performance as Rehman Dakait in the Aditya Dhar film and silently returned to his Alibaug house, away from the spotlight. Fans began revisiting his old interviews and films, especially his hilarious work in Farah Khan and Akshay Kumar’s Tees Maar Khan (2010). Well, in a recent chat with YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia on his Podcast, Farah opened up about working with Akshaye, avoiding his irritable phase in the 90s, and how she congratulated him for Dhurandhar.
Speaking to Ranveer Allahbadia about her Tees Maar Khan star Aatish Kapoor aka Akshaye Khanna, Farah Khan shared, “Yeah, he’s too good yaar. In the ’90s, I did a couple of movies with him, and after that I was traumatised. Because he used to be a different person. Introverted, but not a very nice person on set. Whenever I heard that Akshaye Khanna was in a film, I used to say, ‘I don’t have the dates.’ After that something happened. I think at that time, he’s also spoken about it, he was losing his hair at a very young age. He used to be constantly irritable. He used to throw things, script, and say, ‘Yeh kya dialogue hai?’ He used to be that type of person.”
Remembering their reunion in Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Farah shared, “Then, Dil Chahta Hai I didn’t have a choice, because Farhan (Akhtar) is my first cousin. Uski pehli picture thi. Akshaye Khanna had completely changed. He was very… I think he had reconciled with his hair, if you see in Dil Chahta Hai. Toh then he became very chill. Kyunki usse pehele aap paani daal do, baarish daal do… tu dekh har baarish ke gaane mein woh topi pehenta hai. Tu dekh le Taal mein dekh le, because of that I think.” Farah went on to explain, “But after Dil Chahta Hai, something changed. And he is a brilliant dancer, you see ‘Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe,’ he is dancing better than both Aamir (Khan) and Saif (Ali Khan) actually. He’s a very, very good dancer. I think after that something changed in him. And then he was lovely to work with.”
Talking about the rapport she and Akshaye share today, Farah said, “He’s not a person that you can go and chill and hang with. But I call him up… as soon as I saw Dhurandhar, I called him, I was like ‘Akshu!’ I have gone to his Alibaug house. You know he’s also half Parsi, like me. Rahul (Khanna) is a very very dear friend of mine, woh humaare games group ka part hai. So he’s that type. And what I like about him (Akshaye) is that he’s not about the fluff, he’s about the work. What he enjoys is being on set and doing acting. Acting! Acting karo. Usko acting mein maza aata hai.”
Farah even referred to Akshaye’s iconic dialogue from Tees Maar Khan and said, “Yeh Oscar type aise hi hote hain.” Well, Akshaye is now expected to return to theatres next week with Dhurandhar: The Revenge.