The first meeting was an unalloyed disaster. He was probably the most difficult actor I’ve encountered in my life. Usually debutants talk nineteen to the 1900. Eager to please, happy to reveal their souls. All I got was monosyllabic answers and he shut me up promptly. I hoped I’d never meet again. I think I was on the sets of a film called Laawaris. He was playing cricket with the unit members while Dimple Kapadia kept calling him “Cawas”, a jibe at his Parsi eccentricities. I remember telling my senior never to ask me to go interview him again.
But on screen, Akshaye Khanna was magic. It was like a reel of film unspooling gradually. It was like a slowly developing photograph. When he won the Best Debut Award for Himalay Putra and Border, he snubbed the anchor who asked him how he felt. He said please don’t make this a question and answer session. I think directors used to feet-touching were taken by his calling them on first name basis.
Tales of Akshaye Khanna’s notoriety were rife. Costars talked of his brusque behavior and entitlement. But on screen, he was pure magic. You just couldn’t take your eyes off him. His films became few and far between. He moved away from the rat race. Unlike his more affable older brother Rahul, Akshaye didn’t even pretend with niceties. Perhaps there were some demons of the past he was dealing with. We will never know.
I was happy to have a relationship with him on screen. From Border to Dhurandhar, time and again, he has smashed the ball out of the park. He is terrific good and can eat up any costar like cornflakes for breakfast.
Watch him in Hungama, Deewangee, Gandhi, My Father – he’s exceptional. And we all know how he has slayed in Chhaava and Dhurandhar. Khanna is a natural and does not rush to fill in the silences. He is an actor who has tehraav. I often think how magical he would have been if he had trained in theatre. You see that in spades in Dil
Chahta Hai. If you haven’t watched him in Gandhi, My Father, I would urge you to do that. People have rediscovered him after Dhurandhar. I beseech everyone to go back to his earlier movies to get a full measure of him.
Some actors need to be nourished and admired from a distance. In a world of narcissism and too much self entitlement, it becomes very difficult to separate the art from the artiste. Age and with it wisdom from experience has told me – Always better to admire artistes from a distance.
On his birthday, I wish him more soul, more peace and burnish the screen with imperishable performances.
Also Read: “Wasn’t Nice on Set…”- Farah Khan Reveals She Avoided Working With Akshaye Khanna
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