Akshaye Khanna is a versatile actor. It like you can give him any role and he will master it. Last year, he played extremely negative roles Chhavva and Dhurandhar and both the films made massive box office collections.
If you talk about film narratives, a strong antagonist creates a stronger protagonist. It is never the other way around. never. And looking at these films, it feels like Bollywood has found the villain that it desperately needed.
But, even before last year, Akshaye Khanna has appeared in many roles that oscillate between grey to dark shades. And, like always he has effortlessly aced them.
Here we bring you his 7 most effortless roles in grey shades:
1. Humraaz | 2002
Akshaye plays the role of Karan Malhotra in this romantic thriller. When his girlfriend actually falls in love with her husband, whom they had planned to con for his wealth, Karan is irked. He feels like he is left empty handed with his girlfriend and plan to amass wealth both gone for a toss. He plans to take revenge against girlfriends and plots against the couple. However, when her husband express a desire to extract revenge from his wife upon knowing the truth, the game really begins.
2. Race | 2008
In this film, he plays the role of Rajiv Singh, a scheming younger brother to Ranvir Singh. He covers his greed, jealousy, and resentment towards Ranvir with his overly sweet and charming behaviour. The plot of the film thickens as he goes about carrying out his plans to eliminate Rajiv.
3. Aakrosh | 2010
As Siddhant Chaturvedi, Akshaye Khanna is flawless. While his role of a CBI officer does not purely fall into pure hero or villain arch, he does represent a layered complex character. He is the soft-spoken cop who will go to any extent to get the perpetrators of crime in his clutch, but more like in a calm-calculated way.
4. Dishoom | 2016
Here he plays the main antagonist, Wagah, in the action comedy film. He plays an Afghani kidnapper with on oomph factor—a stylish, smart-talking and flamboyant person. Right before a crucial cricket match between India and Pakistan, he kidnaps an Indian cricket.
5. Mom | 2017
In this film, he is seen as Inspector Mathew Francis investigating the case of Arya Sabarwal. He is assigned the case of the assault takes place. His objectivity and sharpness in the role along with a restrained and grounded performance brings much needed weight to the plot of the film.
6. Iteffaq | 2017
Here Akshaye Khanna is seen portraying the role of a CBI Officer tasked with solving a criminal case in 24 hours. Given, that there are only two suspects and both are in front of him. How does he trace the truth with his conflicting, clashing and constantly evolving story around the crime? One of his best grey roles as police officer.
7. Drishyam 2 | 2022
Another film in which he plays the role of a cop trying to uncover the truth of Vijay Salgaonkar and his family. His cold, calculated and methodical approach to put a psychological pressure on the family tilts this role slightly as a grey shade.
These roles not only show what a versatile actor Akshaye Khanna is, but also that he had been experimenting with these roles for a very long time. And while today, we can give him the title of being the best villain ever, this article deconstruct the truth, that his success today is rooted in the years he spent working for these grey and dark roles.