Akshay Khanna’s Rahman Dakait has become perhaps one of the most talked about parts DhurandharBut the actor was initially reluctant to play the film’s villain. Casting director Mukesh Chhabra has now revealed that Akshay’s first reaction to the role was to question why he should take it.
In a recent episode of Shekhar Suman’s show Shekhar toniteMukesh recalled his conversation with Akshay before he agreed to be a part of actor Aditya Dhar’s two-part film.
He said, “When I narrated the story to Akshay Bhai, he said, ‘are you crazy? Why should I be a villain? (Are you crazy? Why would I play the villain?) After listening to the story for five minutes, he said, ‘Great’, and said yes that same day.
According to Mukesh Chhabra, it didn’t take long for Akshay to change his mind after hearing the story. The casting director said that he is confident that the actor will be able to bring something special to the role. “I knew he would kill it. Akshay added his touch to Aditya Dhar’s script. He got the right opportunity, the right script, at the right time,” he said.
Mukesh Chhabra also revealed that Akshay was not the first actor approached for the part. He said that before Akshay’s arrival, two-three big stars had turned down the role.
“I can tell now that 2-3 very big stars turned down the role. They thought it was an ensemble cast and the director hadn’t worked for 7 years. The last film was fly. They are very calculating. When an artist starts thinking with his head instead of his heart, that’s a problem,” he said.
DhurandharDirected by Aditya Dhar, it starred Ranveer Singh, Akshay Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Rakesh Bedi and Sara Arjun. The first part hits theaters in December 2025, followed by the second installment in March 2026.
Coming back to Akshay Khanna, he was last seen in the Netflix original. ikkaIt also featured Sunny Deol, Dia Mirza, Tilotma Shome and Sanjeeda Shaikh.
The actor will be seen as Shukracharya in the next film MahakaliA dark mythological action-fantasy film set in the Prashant Varma cinematic universe. The film is slated to release on January 8 next year.
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