Dhurandhar actor Rakesh Bedi compares Akshaye Khanna to Shatrughan Sinha, ‘When a villain becomes lovable, he becomes more loved than the hero’

Veteran actor Rakesh Bedi, who plays the sly Pakistani politician Jameel Jamali in Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar, has opened up about his experience of working with Akshaye Khanna, whose portrayal of Rehman Dakait has earned widespread appreciation. The actor also teased what lies ahead in Dhurandhar 2, hinting that his character will turn even more evil in the sequel.Speaking to Faridoon Shahryar, Rakesh spoke about Akshaye Khanna’s quiet and focused approach on set. “I am of the nature that I speak to everyone on set and crack jokes with everyone. Akshaye, however, is different. He would sit in the corner quietly and read his books or would be looking into his phone,” he said.He added that despite Akshaye’s reserved nature, their off-camera interactions were engaging. “Whenever we sat together before the shot, we had very intellectual conversations. He asked me a lot about my theatre. I also asked him questions. So we had some good conversations, but when it comes to the scene, we rehearsed a lot.”Explaining why Akshaye’s character struck such a chord with audiences, Rakesh pointed to the layered presentation of Rehman Dakait. “His character has a flamboyance, which is increased by that song (FA9LA). This is a lethal combination. When a villain becomes lovable, then he becomes more loved than the hero,” he said.Drawing a comparison from the past, he added, “For example, Shatrughan Sinha, when he was at the peak of his career, his entry was marked by cheers and claps in theatres despite him playing a villain in every film. He was a lovable villain.”Rakesh attributed the growing anticipation around Dhurandhar 2 to the gripping narrative of the first film. Recalling an audience reaction, he said, “A woman told me that after watching Dhurandhar she wants to sleep and directly wake up on the day when Dhurandhar 2 is releasing. This is the reaction of many people.”He added that the makers’ refusal to follow formulaic storytelling paid off. “We told an amazing story, but we did not tell its climax. Now everyone wants to know what happens next and how does it end. This has happened only because every scene of Dhurandhar is engaging, because the makers did not take commercial formulas in the film.” While staying tight-lipped about plot details, Rakesh dropped a telling hint about his arc in the sequel. “It is not for me to reveal things about the film, but I can say that my character will be more ‘kamina (rascal)’ than what you have seen in the first part,” he said.Elaborating further, he added, “My character has placed his son-in-law on the top after getting Rehman Dakait killed. But what is my character’s next game? Because he has placed his son-in-law on the throne, but that doesn’t mean he will let his own throne go away.” The Dhurandhar sequel is set to release on March 19.