Designer reveals Akshaye Khanna's reaction to Rehman Dakait's look in Dhurandhar: ‘He loved the…’

Designer Mani Shanker Singh recently opened up about designing outfits for actor Akshaye Khanna in the Bollywood blockbuster, Dhurandhar. Singh, who dressed Khanna for his character Rehman Dakait in a few scenes, shared how the opportunity reached him. He also revealed Khanna's reaction to the look.

Mani Shanker Singh on designing Akshaye Khanna's Dhurandhar outfit

Speaking to ANI, Mani Shanker Singh said the team of Akshaye Khanna reached out to him. “This was obviously three years back when the movie was getting shot. They reached out to us, provided a brief, and we worked with the stylist. That's how it worked,” he said.

Singh added that he was not told much about Khanna's character while working on the project. "I didn't get to know a lot about the movie that time, of his character, because obviously they keep it hush hush. But it was beautiful. I'm so happy to design something for Akshay, who's played the most powerful part in the movie. I'm so happy that we've dressed him in a couple of scenes, of course," he added.

Explaining the inspiration behind the outfits, Singh said, “You work together as a team with the stylist. They know which scenes the clothes are for and guide you on what they're looking for, whether it's an opening scene, or if they want something more calm. So you work around with your collection and you kind of play around with your collection to kind of cater to what they also kind of like, it's a collaborative effort.”

Akshaye Khanna's reaction to Rehman Dakait's outfits

According to the designer, the outfits were adapted from his collection to suit the narrative of the spy thriller.

The designer, who did not work directly with Akshaye Khanna, coordinated with the styling team to ensure the look and its alignment to Dakait. "We didn't directly work with Akshaye. We worked with the styling team, but I was told that he loved the outfits," Singh revealed.

Dhurandhar

Directed by Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar stars Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, and R Madhavan. The film emerged as one of the highest-grossing films of 2025, surpassing blockbusters like Pathaan, Jawan, Chhaava, Pushpa 2: The Rule and more hits.

Dhurandhar: The Revenge

The sequel to the two-part film, Dhurandhar: The Revenge, will be released on 19 March 2026, clashing with Yash's Toxic at the box office. Both films will see a pan-India release.

Recently, a teaser of Dhurandhar: The Revenge was dropped by the team.