Happy Birthday Akshaye Khanna: Race actor's shocking transformation

By Lokmat English Desk | Published: March 28, 2021 01:30 PM2021-03-28T13:30:00+5:302021-03-28T13:30:00+5:30

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Akshaye Khanna made his acting debut in Bollywood in 1997 with the film Himalay Putra. His next release Border (1997) emerged as a critical and commercial success, earning him the Filmfare Best Debut Award and a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Khanna rose to prominence with starring roles in the musical romantic drama Taal (1999), the comedy drama Dil Chahta Hai (2001) which won him a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor, the romantic thriller Humraaz (2002) for which he was nominated in the Best Negative Role category, the romantic comedies Hungama (2003) and Hulchul (2004), the murder mystery 36 China Town (2006), the action thriller Race (2008) and the heist comedy Tees Maar Khan (2010), and he continued to draw praise for his performances in the 1999 romance Dahek, the 2002 psychological thriller Deewangee, the 2007 biographical drama Gandhi, My Father and the 2010 action thriller film Aakrosh.

In 2016, he made his comeback as an antagonist after a four-year hiatus in the action-comedy film Dishoom and appeared as an investigative cop in two 2017 thrillers, the crime film Mom and the murder mystery Ittefaq.

Khanna made his acting debut with Pankaj Parashar's romantic drama Himalay Putra (1997), co-starring his father Vinod, Hema Malini, Satish Shah, Johny Lever, Danny Denzongpa, and Amrish Puri.His performance earned him a Screen Award for Best Male Debut, but the film underperformed at the box office despite mostly positive reviews. Later that year, Khanna starred in J. P. Dutta's war drama Border alongside Sunny Deol, Suniel Shetty, and Jackie Shroff.

After a two-year absence from full-time acting, Khanna appeared in Farhan Akhtar's coming-of-age comedy-drama Dil Chahta Hai (2001) alongside Saif Ali Khan and Aamir Khan. Set in Mumbai, it focuses on a major period of transition in the lives of three young friends. Khanna featured as one of the friends named Siddharth Sinha, a quiet and reticent boy. The feature generated mainly positive reviews, with critical acclaim directed to the three leads' performances, and emerged as a major commercial success. Dil Chahta Hai won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and seven Filmfare Awards, including a Best Supporting Actor award for Khanna.

Abbas–Mustan's romantic thriller Humraaz (2002), co-starring Bobby Deol and Ameesha Patel, was Khanna's next film release. He played the main antagonist Karan Malhotra, a convincing con-artist whose girlfriend (played by Patel) marries a rich man (played by Deol) to secure his wealth, but eventually falls in love with him. Humraaz proved to be a major economic success, and Khanna's performance received critical praise. He won the IIFA Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role and received a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role. That year, he also starred as a lawyer in Anees Bazmee's thriller Deewangee alongside Ajay Devgn and Urmila Matondkar, a financial success for which he was nominated for the Screen Award for Best Actor.

In 2003, Khanna starred as an electronic salesman in Priyadarshan's romantic comedy Hungama, co-starring Rimi Sen, Paresh Rawal, and Aftab Shivdasani. The feature became a box office hit with earnings of ₹202 million (US$2.8 million) despite a mixed critical reception. He next reunited with J. P. Dutta to film LOC Kargil, a war drama based on the events of the Kargil War fought between India and Pakistan. Khanna played the real-life character of Balwan Singh, an Indian army officer who is a part of the war.

In 2006, Khanna appeared in three films—the first of which was Satish Kaushik's comedy-drama Shaadi Se Pehle, co-starring Suniel Shetty, Aftab Shivdasani, Ayesha Takia and Mallika Sherawat. Khanna's next role was in 36 China Town, a murder-mystery comedy adapted from the American film Once Upon a Crime and co-starring Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor. Directed by Abbas–Mustan, the film featured him as a police officer, and proved to be a financial success with earnings of over ₹369 million (US$5.2 million) worldwide. Khanna's final film release that year was Dharmesh Darshan's romantic comedy Aap Ki Khatir alongside Priyanka Chopra, Ameesha Patel, Suniel Shetty, and Anupam Kher. It proved to be one of the year's biggest flops.

In 2007, Khanna acted in Nikkhil Advani's drama Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love, a romantic comedy consisting of six chapters. He was featured in the first and second chapter opposite Ayesha Takia. The film received negative reviews from critics and emerged as a major commercial disappointment. His next appearance was in Abbas–Mustan's love-saga Naqaab, in which he starred as Vicky Malhotra, an unemployed film personality, alongside Bobby Deol and Urvashi Sharma. The feature received positive reviews from audiences but turned out to be an average grosser. Khanna then took a leading role in Feroz Abbas Khan's adaptation of the novel Mahatma vs Gandhi, entitled Gandhi, My Father, co-starring Darshan Jariwala, Bhumika Chawla, and Shefali Shah. The feature explores the relationship between freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi (played by Jariwala) and his eldest son Harilal Gandhi (played by Khanna). Though the film underperformed at the box office, his performance was praised, with several critics regarding it as one of his finest performances, and earned him a second Best Actor nomination at Screen Awards. In his final release of that year, Khanna teamed with Anil Mehta for the dance film Aaja Nachle, co-starring Madhuri Dixit, Konkona Sen Sharma, Kunal Kapoor, and Jugal Hansraj, which underperformed at the box office.

Khanna's performance in the Abbas–Mustan-directed action thriller Race (2008) marked a turning point in his career. Cast alongside Saif Ali Khan, Anil Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, and Bipasha Basu, Khanna garnered praise for his portrayal of the main antagonist Rajiv Singh, an alcoholic person who plots to kill his half brother (played by Khan) to secure his wealth. Race, despite receiving negative reviews, proved to be one of the highest-grossing films of that year with a worldwide revenue of over ₹1 billion (US$14 million), becoming Khanna's highest-grossing release to that point, and his performance earned him Best Performance in a Negative Role awards at major award functions, including IIFA and Screen. The success of the film established Khanna as one of the established actors of the Hindi film industry. For his final release of 2008, he reunited with Priyadarshan in the comedy Mere Baap Pehle Aap, co-starring Paresh Rawal, Genelia D'Souza, and Archana Puran Singh.

Khanna's only release in 2009 was Neeraj Vora's romantic comedy Shortkut, in which he starred alongside Amrita Rao and Arshad Warsi, playing the character of Shekhar, an assistant director who hopes to be a writer and director too. The feature garnered negative reviews from critics and bombed at the box office. The following year, he featured in three commercial failures.

Khanna made his comeback to Bollywood in 2016 with the action cop comedy Dishoom, in which he starred alongside Varun Dhawan, John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez, Saqib Saleem, and Tarun Khanna, playing the role of the main antagonist Wagah, a bookie who targets a top batsman (played by Saleem). The feature received mixed reviews from critics, but emerged as one of his most successful, earning over ₹1.20 billion (US$17 million) worldwide.