Akshaye Khanna makes his fans proud

By: Arya Aiyappan
Friday, February 16, 2007

Once again Akshaye Khanna has proved his fans right and critics wrong! While Akshaye's fans have always had complete faith on the actor being versatile and talented, despite many memorable performances in the past, a section of the critics were not convinced. Many even considered Akshaye to be a star son who landed in Bollywood by default.

Things have, however, changed since the release of his latest film Salaam-E-Ishq and these critics are now being forced to bite the dust. Akshaye's performance in Salaam-E-Ishq has not only silenced his critics, but also established beyond doubts that he is one of the most talented actors in the industry today.

Talking about Akshaye's polished and restraint performance in Salaam-E-Ishq, a critic aptly points out, "As you see Akshaye playing the fool, you cannot help, but laugh alongside Akshaye. He is indeed a remarkably restrained and gifted performer, as he plays the fool and a commitment-phobic in Salaam-E-Ishq. He is demonstrably brilliant!"

While his fans are ecstatic and critics showering raves, trade analysts too are excited and looking forward to his forthcoming releases this year.

Akshaye, who is presently shooting in South Africa for action thriller Race with Abbas Mastan, says, ""I m overwhelmed with the reaction. It's nice to know that people have appreciated my work in the film. I'm also glad that my performance has been appreciated by the reviewers."

Akshaye we agree with you as there are reasons to be happy and elated.

The actor is now known to be in an introspective mood. Two of his films were released last year, but none did well at the box office. He is now looking up to 2007 with to deliver him his dues as a couple of promising films are in line for release soon. Furthermore, Akshaye has decided to be more selective with his roles this time and do only quality work.

Incidentally Akshaye was offered a choice of two other characters in Salaam-E-Ishq. But when Nikhil did a complete narration of the script to him, considering his acting prowess, Akshaye opted for his track as he found it very interesting. Says Akshaye, "When I heard Nikhil's script, I had to do the film. It was something very different."

Insiders, who have seen the rushes of Gandhi My Father, rave that it is Akshaye's best performance so far and is sure by get him a National Award for his performance in a very complex role. When we contacted Akshaye he was modest and just said, "I'm not supposed to speak about the film at this stage and the producers know what they are doing. I will speak about it when only when the time is ripe!"

Surely, Akshaye has come a long way since his Bollywood debut 10 years ago. Then he was only 18. Looking back, Akshaye feels that maybe he was too young then to get into films and should have made his debut a little later. He also acknowledges that he might have been a bit brash during his debut that young age.

Says Akshaye, "Yeah, I agree that I should have made my debut a bit later when I was actually ready for it. Though I came from a film background, we were sheltered from it. I didn't understand the working of the industry and was completely out of depth. But today I'm fully prepared and I can't imagine doing anything otherwise."

So, finally Akshaye has matured, both as a person and performer!