Even as Dhurandhar: The Revenge continues to rake in the moolah and create chatter on social media, fans can’t stop thinking about Akshaye Khanna’s Rehman Dakait in the first film. He marked his debut
close to 30 years back and won acclaim for many of his performances but his popularity saw a resurgence post Dhurandhar’s release in December last year.
His hook-step in Fa9la went viral, spawning reels and memes. He truly emerged as a scene-stealing force in the Aditya Dhar directorial, with directors and co-stars heaping praises on him. However, Akshaye had and continues to have a reputation of being difficult, making many filmmakers cautious. Priyadarshan, in fact, was warned against casting him in his early years.
Now, speaking exclusively to News18, his Dhurandhar co-actor, Danish Pandor, who played Uzair Baloch, busts the myths surrounding Akshaye and gives us a sneak peek of the man behind the industry perception. “He treats you very nicely. He’s very receptive as a person. It’s true that he doesn’t speak much but if you ask him anything, he’s very responsive,” he tells us.
“It’s not like he says, ‘Oh, I don’t want to speak to you.’ He’s an amazing human being. But yes, there’s a zone that he lives in when he’s on a film set. He always concentrated on his character. When the camera rolls, he becomes that character completely,” Danish adds. On a related note, Akshaye exited from Drishyam 3 after producers couldn’t meet his remuneration demand of Rs 21 crore.
Producer Kumar Mangat later referred to the actor as ‘toxic’ for walking out of the film after taking an advance, hinting that he hiked his fees following the success of Dhurandhar. He also added that it’s the yes-men around him who convinced him to don a wig for Drishyam 3, a change that would impact the film’s continuity.
As for Danish, it wasn’t really difficult for him to break the ice with Akshaye. But he what he discovered was that he has a no-phone policy on set. “He doesn’t even sit with his phone on a set. He sits in a tight corner, not speaking to anyone unless spoken to. He’s an amazing soul. He sits quietly, keeps to himself and thinks about his performance,” Danish shares.
As the Akshaye euphoria peaked following Dhurandhar, he quietly took off, secluding himself in his bungalow in Alibaug, away from all the frenzy. Lauding his priority for privacy away from the limelight and the shutterbugs, Danish remarks, “Isn’t that best thing one can do? Things like this keeps him grounded. The moment you feel that you’re getting overwhelmed, you should just start taking it easy.”
Talking about how Akshaye remains unfazed with both success and failure, Danish says, “He keeps himself grounded and moves on [to other projects] easily. But he knows everything that goes around on social media. Having said that, I don’t think he’s one of those people who would actively go to social media to see what’s being written or talked about him.”
