Bollywood actor Akshaye Khanna has been dominating headlines since the past one month, ever since his film Dhurandhar arrived in theatres. After his versatile performance as Rehman Dakait in the Aditya Dhar film, fans eagerly waited for his next. But the internet was shocked to learn that Akshaye had walked out of Ajay devgn-starrer Drishyam 3. Producer Kumar Mangat confirmed that Jaideep Ahlawat had replaced Akshaye and claimed that success had gone to the latter’s head. Well, filmmaker Priyadarshan has now revealed how he was discouraged from working with Akshaye years ago.
Akshaye Khanna and Priyadarshan have worked together in several films, such as Hungama (2003) and Hulchul (2004). Talking about the actor in a recent chat with Mid-Day, Priyadarshan shared, “In my first film with Akshaye Khanna, ‘Doli Saja Ke Rakhna’ [1998], everybody had discouraged me from signing him on. They said he is difficult and moody. But I fell in love with him from the first film itself. I never found him difficult. If I called him at 5 am he would be there on time. He is a darling and we’ve never had a bitter moment together in [the six films we did]. He is least bothered by criticism.”
Talking to HT City about Akshaye’s exit from the film, Drishyam 3’s producer Kumar Mangat had stated, “What happens is sometimes, a side actor is cast in an ensemble. And when the film works, he/she thinks the film worked because of them. But a lot of people contribute to making a film a hit. When I had made Section 375 (2019) with Akshaye, he had no work for four years. And I had told him, that after Drishyam 2, roles will be written for him. We were such good friends, he would come to our office every month and have food with us. Achanak success sar pe chadh gayi.”
Akshaye is not a part of Drishyam 3 anymore, but he is expected to return as Rehman Dakait in Dhurandhar 2, which is set to release on March 19. Apart from this, the actor has been roped in to play Asuraguru Shukracharya in Prashanth Varma’s upcoming film Mahakali.