Farah Khan recalls being traumatised by Akshaye Khanna during his hair loss phase: ‘Not a nice person on set…’

Filmmaker and choreographer Farah Khan shared her past work experience with Dhurandhar star Akshaye Khanna. Recalling her not-so-pleasant collaborations, Khan said he initially would decline working on projects with Khanna. She said that Khanna used to be a different person, mostly due to losing his hair.

Farah Khan on not wanting to work with Akshaye Khanna

Speaking to Ranveer Allahbadia on his podcast, Farah Khan shared how she would avoid working with Akshaye Khanna. “In the ’90s, I did a couple of movies with Akshaye, and after that, I was traumatised. Because he used to be a different person. Yes, introverted, but not a nice person on set. Whenever I heard that Akshaye Khanna was in a film, I used to say, ‘I don’t have the dates.’"

She added that during that time, Khanna was dealing with hair loss, which might have contributed to his behaviour. “I think at that time he himself had said that he was losing his hair. He was constantly irritable. He used to throw things and say, ‘What kind of dialogue is this?’ He used to be that kind of person."

Akshaye Khanna changed after Dil Chahta Hai

Khan went on to narrate how her perception of Akshaye Khanna changed after working with him on Dil Chahta Hai. She said she could no longer turn down the project, even though Khanna was in the film alongside Aamir Khan and Saif Ali Khan.

“He had completely changed by then. He had reconciled with his hair. In Dil Chahta Hai, he became very chill. Before that, if there was water or rain in a scene, he would always wear a cap, like see every rain song of his, such as in Taal. But after Dil Chahta Hai, something changed," she revealed.

During the same conversation, Khan also praised Khanna for his dance skills, which she believes are often overlooked. “And he is a brilliant dancer, if you watch ‘Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe,’ he is dancing better than Aamir and Saif," she added.

Khanna's viral Dhurandhar dance

Interestingly, Khanna created a storm on the internet with his viral entry scene in Dhurandhar. In the film, led by Ranveer Singh, he essayed the role of Rehman Dakait. The popular scene is set to the hit Bahraini rapper Flipperachi's FA9LA. It showed Khanna walking in with cold swagger and attitude, adding to his ruthless character.

Although Khanna was the highlight of the film, he isn't a part of Dhurandhar 2 as his character dies towards the end.

“He’s not a person that you can go and chill and hang with. But I call him up… as soon as I saw Dhurandhar, I called him, I was like ‘Akshu!’ I have gone to his Alibaug house. You know he’s also half Parsi, like me. Rahul (Khanna) is a very very dear friend of mine, woh humaare games group ka part hai. So he’s that type. And what I like about him (Akshaye) is that he’s not about the fluff, he’s about the work. What he enjoys is being on set and doing acting,” Khan said.