Shobhaa De calls hype around Akshaye Khanna’s Dhurandhar role ‘manipulative’: Even crediting his dance…

Shobhaa De also weighed in on Dhurandhar’s reception, drawing attention to Hrithik Roshan’s post in which he stated that he did not agree with film's politics.

Actor Akshaye Khanna has been earning widespread acclaim for his turn as gangster Rehman Dakait in Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar. However, veteran author and columnist Shobhaa De feels the hype built around his character was manipulative.

Shobhaa De recently spoke about Akshaye Khanna's performance in Dhurandhar.

Shobhaa De on Akshaye Khanna’s hype in Dhurandhar

Shobhaa De recently appeared on Rediff Originals for a podcast, posted on YouTube, where she reflected on the success of Dhurandhar and the massive hype surrounding Akshaye Khanna’s character in the film.

In the spy thriller, Akshaye was seen as the menacing Pakistani gangster Rehman Dakait. His performance was applauded by many, including his dancing entry in one scene to the song Fa9la, which went viral on social media.

Talking about all the chatter around Akshaye’s role in the film, Shobhaa De said, “Another manipulative aspect was creating the impression that Akshaye is the bigger star and that he alone stood out — even crediting his dance as the highlight.”

She also weighed in on the film’s reception, drawing attention to Hrithik Roshan’s tweet in which he said he did not agree with the film's politics.

“Nobody asked Hrithik Roshan whether he agreed with the politics of the film. He could have simply said he liked it — but he chose to go further. The choreography, the use of music, and the casting in Dhurandhar are all brilliant,” she said.

Hrithik Roshan on Dhurandhar

Last year in December, Hrithik took to Instagram to pen a note sharing his views after watching Dhurandhar, which has been directed by Aditya Dhar.

He wrote, “I love cinema, I love people who climb into a vortex and let the story take control, spin them shake them until what they want to say is purged out of them onto that screen. DHURANDAR is an example of that. Loved the storytelling. It's cinema… I may disagree with the politics of it, and argue about the responsibilities us filmmakers should bear as citizens of the world. Nevertheless, can't ignore how loved and learnt from this one as a student of cinema. Amazing.”

A few hours after his first review, Hrithik took to X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram to praise the performances in Dhurandhar. He wrote, “Still can't get DHURANDHAR out of my mind. @AdityaDharFilms you are an incredible maker man. @RanveerOfficial the silent to the fierce what a journey and so damn consistent.”

According to Shobhaa De, Dhurandhar is an important film “because it didn’t follow the typical spy-universe fantasy route”. She also mentioned that she was amazed to see Ranveer Singh’s commitment and dedication for the project. She also dismissed claims that labelled the film as propaganda, saying that it is “childish” to attribute motives like that.

About Dhurandhar

Released on December 5, the spy thriller is set in Pakistan. It features Ranveer as an Indian spy who infiltrates the terror networks based in Lyari. The storyline explores espionage, crime, and intelligence operations. It also stars Akshay Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, and R Madhavan in pivotal roles. The thriller opened to an explosive box-office response.

It has emerged as the highest-grossing film of 2025. The film raked in over ₹830 crores in India. It became the first Bollywood film to cross the ₹800 crore mark in India. The film’s worldwide collection is over ₹1300 crore. Its sequel is set to release in theatres on March 19.