Akshaye Khanna is an Indian actor who primarily works in the Hindi film industry. He has been the recipient of several Filmfare Award several times in his career and is mostly known for critically and commercially acclaimed films like
Border,
Taal,
Dil Chahta Hai, Humraaz,
Hungama and
Gandhi, My Father. His 2017 release includes director
Ravi Udyawar`s thriller film
Mom starring
Sridevi in the lead role and
Abhay Chopra`s
Ittefaq which stars
Sonakshi Sinha and
Sidharth Malhotra.
Early LifeBorn on 28th March 1975 in Mumbai, Maharashtra to veteran actor,
Vinod Khanna, and former model, Geetanjali Khanna, Akshaye Khanna has one real brother, Rahul Khanna, and two step-siblings, Shakshi Khanna and Shraddha Khanna. He did his schooling from Bombay International School and later from Lovedale School in Ooty. Akshaye graduated from H.R. College in Mumbai and did a course in acting from Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute, Mumbai.
Movie CareerAkshaye Khanna made his acting debut with Vinod Khanna`s film
Himalay Putra in 1997. The movie bombed at the box office and failed to garner any positive reviews. In the same year, he starred in the war drama film Border. Directed by J.P. Dutta, the film also starred
Sunny Deol,
Sunil Shetty, Jackie Shroff,
Tabu, and
Pooja Bhatt. Border was one of the highest grossers of Bollywood in the `90s. Akshaye Khanna went on to win the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for the film.
He then starred in a series of unsuccessful films like Mohabbat, Aa Ab Laut Chalen, Laawaris, and Dahek. In 1999, Akshaye appeared in Subhash Ghai`s hit film Taal. A musical romantic drama, Taal also starred
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and
Anil Kapoor in pivotal roles. The year 2001 marked the release of the cult film Dil Chahta hai, starring Akshaye Khanna,
Aamir Khan and
Saif Ali Khan in the lead roles. Directed by
Farhan Akhtar, this coming of age film received unprecedented success and Akshaye got his second Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for essaying the role of Sid Sinha, an artist. In 2002, Akshaye did a negative role for the first time in Abbas-Mustan`s murder mystery Humraaz, co-starring
Ameesha Patel and
Bobby Deol.
He ventured into the comedy genre with hit films like
Hulchul and Hungama before starring in a series of flop movies including
Shaadi Se Pehle (2006), Aap Ki Khatir (2006)
Salaam-E-Ishq: A Tribute to Love (2007),
Naqaab (2007), and
Mere Baap Pehle Aap (2008). In 2007, he starred in the critically acclaimed film Gandhi, My Father, which is amongst his most notable roles. Next year, in 2008, Akshaye played the antagonist again, in Abbas-Mustan`s thriller film
Race. Based on a sibling rivalry, the movie, along with Akshaye, starred an ensemble cast including Saif Ali Khan,
Katrina Kaif,
Bipasha Basu,
Sameera Reddy and Anil Kapoor. Race was a super hit at the box office and Akshaye was well appreciated for portraying a negative role with such finesse.
He then appeared in films like Aakrosh, Tees Maar Khan, and Delhi Safari. After that, he took a five year long sabbatical and returned to the silver screen in 2016 with the action-adventure film
Dishoom, co-starring
Varun Dhawan,
Jacqueline Fernandez, and
John Abraham in the lead roles. In 2017, he worked in
Mom, under the direction of
Ravi Udyawar, starring him in a pivotal role opposite Sridevi as the lead and
Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a special appearance. His 2019 project includes
Section 375. His 2020 release includes
Sab Kushal Mangal. His other notable works include State of Siege: Temple Attack (2021), Hungama 2 (2021), Love You Hamesha (2022) and
Drishyam 2 (2022).