Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar is continuing its strong run at the box office, with Akshaye Khanna earning widespread praise for his chilling turn as a ruthless gangster. Amid the film’s success, rumours have surfaced that R Madhavan is feeling sidelined with Akshaye grabbing the spotlight. Madhavan has now reacted to the buzz, making it clear that he is happy for Akshaye.

R Madhavan on Akshaye Khanna in Dhurandhar

During an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Madhavan was asked about several social media users wondering if he is unhappy with Akshaye Khanna getting all the spotlight for his role in the spy thriller, which also stars Ranveer Singh.

Reacting to it, Madhavan added, “Not at all! I cannot be happier for Akshaye. He deserves every bit of the adulation he is getting. What a talented actor! And to be so grounded. He could be giving a million interviews. But he is sitting in his new home, enjoying the silence that he has always cherished. I mean, I thought I was the underplayer when it came to public attention. But Akshaye Khanna is on another level. He just doesn’t care. Success, failure are all the same to him,” said Madhavan.

Madhavan added, “Just being part of Dhurandhar is enough. The film is making history, and I am glad to be part of it. Neither Akshaye nor the director Aditya Dhar are interested in cashing in on the success.”

About Dhurandhar

Written, directed and co-produced by Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar stars Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Sara Arjun and Rakesh Bedi. Madhavan plays Ajay Sanyal, Director of the Intelligence Bureau, in the film, while Akshaye plays Rehman Dakait, the leader of the Baloch gang.

The film tells the story of how Jaskirat Singh Rangi, aka Hamza Ali Mazari, played by Ranveer, infiltrates Rehman Dakait’s gang to relay sensitive information to India. Dhurandhar has been seeing a stellar run at the box office via a strong word of mouth. The film has collected over ₹483 crore at the box office in India in 15 days.

For weeks now, Dhurandhar has split the nation right down the middle, flooding timelines and sparking endless debates. But on one thing, critics and audiences are in rare agreement: Akshaye Khanna as ‘Rahman Daqait’ is an absolute knockout.

Mounted and marketed as Ranveer Singh’s grand comeback, the film has instead turned into an unexpected, scene-stealing resurrection for Akshaye Khanna.

Akshaye Khanna Is Bollywood’s Great Contradiction 

What makes this moment deliciously ironic is that Akshaye Khanna is the last man you’d expect to dominate the noise. He has no social media. No PR machinery. No filmy party circuit. No photo-ops. In an age where self-promotion is both weapon and lifeline for celebrities, it has never quite been Akshaye Khanna’s language.

There’s has been no gossip, affairs or ‘airport looks’. He works sparingly, avoids interviews, and prefers solitude in his South Bombay home. Karan Johar once famously joked that even if Akshaye were to win an Oscar on a weekend, he’d decline it, saying he doesn’t step out on weekends. That’s Akshaye Khanna. Until he steps in front of the camera. Then, no one else matters. 

Akshaye Khanna is Bollywood’s great contradiction:  too good to ignore, a natural scene-stealer, yet never fully embraced as a big-league star. 

I met Akshaye in July 2017 to interview him at a five-star hotel in Delhi. He was there to ‘promote’ a film, though the ritual of promotion has never quite belonged to him. That evening, he appeared tired and withdrawn, weighed down by a quiet heaviness. Just two months earlier, he had lost his father, veteran Bollywood actor Vinod Khanna. 

Trying to break the ice, I asked Akshaye why his films arrived so infrequently. 

“Personal issues,” he said softly. “And… I wasn’t getting good scripts.” He paused, as if holding back the rest. Then, unexpectedly, he opened up. “Being an actor isn’t easy. An actor is the most dependent and sensitive artist. A writer can write alone. A musician can compose alone. An actor can do nothing alone. We need a good director, good writers, good technicians, and good co-actors. Without the right team, we are nothing.” 

Dhurandhar proves how right he was. Akshaye hasn’t changed, but the writing, and Aditya Dhar’s razor-sharp presentation of him, flipped the game entirely. 

He barely spoke through the interview. When I finally asked about his father, he fell silent again. “It hasn’t been long,” he said. “We’re still affected. If I speak, I’ll get emotional. Let’s leave it.” 

Afterwards, I asked if any question had upset him. “No, no,” he said simply. “I just don’t feel like talking.” 

Here was a man promoting a big film after years away, yet completely uninterested in ‘talking’ or selling himself. He told me that he believes if the film was good and his performance worked, people would appreciate it, whether he promoted the film or not, whether he was the hero or not. 

Years later, Dhurandhar proved him right once again. He stayed away from the film’s promotional circus, but it’s his presence on screen that became impossible to ignore.

Dominating Two Of The Year’s Biggest Blockbusters

Amid the buzz around Dhurandhar, many overlooked Akshaye Khanna’s chilling turn earlier this year as the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Chhaava. Two of 2025’s biggest blockbusters and both defined by his magnetic presence. Quietly, 2025 has become the strongest chapter of his career.

“Underrated actor, because he didn’t get his due as a leading man. Which, by the very nature of theatrical box-office, depends on too many variables, including the script that suits his subdued, understated persona-something that, say, Dil Chahta Hai managed to draw out. With Chhava and Dhurandhar, you can see how he instantly stands out in a milieu that is otherwise so over-the-top,” says film critic Mayank Shekhar.  

But Akshaye himself wears success lightly. 

Asked what success means to him, he replied with disarming clarity in an interview: “If I run a Rs 500-crore business but don’t become Ratan Tata or Dhirubhai Ambani, does that mean I’m unsuccessful? If I don’t become Shah Rukh Khan, am I a failure? Out of 120 crore people in this country, just 15-20 get to become film heroes. What more do you want?” 

This viral triumph of Dhurandhar may have come 28 years after Akshaye Khanna’s debut, but the understated, effortless magic was always there, quietly waiting to be discovered, and finally, to set the screen ablaze.