The world gets to witness spectacular wonders at the very moment when talent gets its due opportunity. But these rare moments take their own sweet time. All it needs is persistence and prudent steps while waiting for one’s destined moment. There can’t be a better example of this perfect combination other than Bollywood actor Akshaye Khanna. After his short and sweet stint in the industry, the Hindi cinema lovers had to wait for a long time to re-witness his unforgettable performances on the big screen.
Initial Cinematic Career and the hiatus from Bollywood
Akshaye Khanna was born on 28th of March 1975. His father Vinod Khanna was a veteran actor and politician and this unwillingly shaped his early career. Initially, Akshaye Khanna was more inclined towards sports and wanted to stay away from the Hindi film industry. But fate played its role and with the passage of time, he aced the industry. Through his flawless acting skills, he cemented a place in the Entertainment industry.
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His cinematic debut started in the year 1997 with the film “Himalaya Putra” but the film performed poorly. After the initial upset, Akshaye Khanna soon tasted success with the hit film, Border. The war-based movie completely changed Akshaye’s cinematic career. In the hit film, he played the role of Second Lieutenant Dharamvir Bhan, who displayed unparalleled valour in the Longewala sector.
No doubt that Border is known for the remarkable performances of Sunny Deol and Sunil Shetty but Akshaye Khanna showcased that he too meant business and was no less than any other contemporary actors. However, he had to toil hard to get this role in this multi-star cast film. Initially, the film production team wanted to enrol popular actors of that time Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Amir Khan and Saif Ali Khan among others, but fate again played in favour of Akshaye Khanna and others backed out for varied reasons.
Apart from praises from audiences, Akshaye received the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for his role in Border. Additionally, he was also nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Award.
His cinematic rise had just begun with Border. After that he appeared in many more films. But his popularity rose to a new high when he played the role of Siddharth Sinha in “Dil Chahta Hai”. On several occasions, he outshined the performances of Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan and stole the thunder. Even after having a limited role, he bagged the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for that role.
Later, he effortlessly pulled the agonising pain of Harilal Gandhi in “Gandhi My Father”. He demonstrated his comic timing in several roles with Jeetu in the popular comedy film ‘Hungama’ being one of his prominent performances.
But sadly, the ruthless industry never gave Akshaye Khanna the due recognition and applause that he deserved.
The full circle of Ups and Downs
Akshaye Khanna has traversed through both the ups and downs in his cinematic career. The industry never did justice with his acting skills. He was slowly sidelined by the industry elites for not having the “good looks” as per industry standards. Some vested interests spread negative perceptions of him being an arrogant and rude person. But as they say, talent has its own way to make it to the surface no matter how badly others want to bury them deep.
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After a long hiatus, Akshaye Khanna made a strong comeback in 2016 with the film Dishoom. Later, he gave memorable performances in Mom and Ittefaq among others. In 2019, he bettered his own past performances in the film Section 375.
It was Akshaye Khanna’s performances that gave some semblance to an otherwise awful movie, The Accidental Prime Minister. The impactful performance in Drishyam 2 is still afresh in the mind of every viewer. It was always tough to get audiences traction amid the spectacular star cast like Tabu, Ajay Devgn and the supporting starcast of its first part, but Akshaye Khanna virtually dominated the middle phase of the movie.
Through all his performances and especially the ones after his remarkable comeback, he has proven the mettle of his versatile acting skills. He is one of those rare actors who have the special ability to make deep and long-lasting impact through his facial expressions. It is a pity that the Bollywood industry failed to utilise his incredible acting skills.
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