"Akshaye Khanna sits in one corner, not chatting and.....": Danish Pandor on his Dhurandhar co-star on sets

Akshaye Khanna’s explosive entry dance in FA9LA has turned into a full-blown cultural moment. Clips of his brooding swagger from Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar are everywhere, and his turn as Rehman Dakait has pushed him right back into the centre of online conversations. While the internet is busy decoding his menacing charm, actor Danish Pandor, who plays Uzair, Akshaye’s younger brother in the film, spoke to India Forums and opened a small window into what Akshaye is really like when the cameras stop rolling.

A Low-Key First Meeting That Turned Into Respect

Danish recalled their earliest interaction, tracing it back to a brief crossing of paths during Chhaava. At the time, Akshaye didn’t recognise him because Danish was in full get-up for his role. Things changed during Dhurandhar’s narration session, where the cast gathered, and director Aditya Dhar officially introduced them.

Here’s how Danish described that moment and his impression of Akshaye, in his corrected words:

“His craft speaks more than he. He is very reserved. As far as I have observed, it’s not that he wouldn’t meet you or chat with you. In Chhaava, we didn’t have much interaction, but during the narration of the script for Dhurandhar last year, when all the primary cast had gathered, Aditya sir introduced me to Akshaye sir. He met me, and I said I had an opportunity to work with him in Chhaava as well. He said, ‘Ohh, is it?’ I told him I played Iqlaas Khan. He couldn’t recognise me because I had a beard and everything for the role. He said ‘Good’, and I said I’m lucky to work with him again. We chatted about that.”

- Danish Pandor

Once the cameras roll, Danish says Akshaye transforms. He arrives on time, greets people warmly, chats for a few minutes, and then slips into a zone that is entirely his own.

“On set, he is extremely punctual, right there on time. He treats you very nicely, will chat calmly for four minutes, and then he gets into his role and gives his best. After the shot, he sits in one tight corner, just to himself, not chatting with anyone, completely in his zen mode. When you go to him, he will chat a bit and then go back to his zen. I have observed all these things.”

- Danish Pandor

Dhurandhar’s Growing Buzz

The spy thriller follows Ranveer as an Indian agent infiltrating terror networks in Lyari, with a strong supporting cast including Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, Sara Arjun, and R Madhavan. With Part Two set to arrive on March 19 next year, the excitement is only climbing.

The Box Office Win

Dhurandhar is on a remarkable run, and the makers have every reason to celebrate. In just seven days, Aditya Dhar’s gritty spy thriller has stormed past the Rs 200 crore benchmark, collecting an impressive Rs 207 crore across India. With this, the film is already inching closer to Dhar’s own debut milestone, Uri, which wrapped up at Rs 244 crore. Ranveer Singh, meanwhile, has scored the third-highest grosser of his career, trailing only behind Simmba and Padmaavat. At the pace Dhurandhar is climbing, it now stands within striking distance of overtaking Simmba’s Rs 240 crore total, putting it in direct competition with his biggest hits so far.

What’s fuelling this surge is not just the numbers but the consistency. The film’s average occupancy across formats sits at a healthy 39.53%, with evenings and night shows staying especially strong at 44.95% and 59.83%. If Dhurandhar holds these levels through its second weekend, it’s poised to keep most of its screens and continue its upward march. With momentum clearly on its side and no major slowdown in sight, industry watchers believe it has the potential to enter Ranveer’s all-time top two.

And right now, as Akshaye Khanna becomes the unexpected internet obsession of the season, Danish Pandor’s candid take offers a grounded look at the man behind the mystique.