Revealed: Here's why Akshaye Khanna was missing at the Dil Chahta Hai reunion

Actor Akshaye Khanna's no-show at the Dil Chahta Hai reunion now has an explanation.

Published on: Aug 29, 2026, 16:15:24 IST

By Rishabh Suri

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Where is Akshaye Khanna? After ‘Why did Katappa killed Baahubali?’, this question is perhaps one of the most widely discussed mysteries. The question pertains to a reunion event marking 25 years of Dil Chahta Hai on Friday, which was attended by Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Sonali Kulkarni, and the makers, Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani.

However, despite the host of the event, Nikhil Taneja earlier confirming Akshaye's presence, he didn't turn up ultimately. Disappointed fans flooded his comments section on Instagram to ask what happened.

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And now we know the reason. The Dhurandhar actor apparently called in sick. Responding to a comment, Nikhil wrote, “He fell sick unfortunately.” That solves the mystery.

As for Preity G Zinta, Nikhil commented, “Unfortunately was unavailable after several permutations and combinations.”

Also read: Veteran actor Dimple Kapadia's bouncy hair at Dil Chahta Hai reunion steals the show: Know her secret, from onion juice…

Akshaye has completely been away from the public eye after Dhurandhar's blockbuster success. For the first part, he had walked away with all the praise for portraying the role of Rehman Dakait. The Aditya Dhar directorial, divided into two separate films ultimately, went on to collect upwards of ₹1000 crores at the box office.

He was also set to be a part of Drishyam 3, but pulled out days before the shoot due to irreconciliable differences with the makers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rishabh Suri
Rishabh Suri is an Assistant Editor, film critic, and professional overthinker of plot points. He writes for HT City, keeping pace with an industry where news cycles expire long before the popcorn gets cold. He completed his graduation in English Honours from Kirori Mal College, followed by a Master’s degree in English Literature-effectively training his brain to over-analyse classic texts before applying those exact same skills to 3-hour Bollywood blockbusters. He got into the profession when he had barely graduated from college and has been at HT ever since. At HT, Rishabh reviews films with a simple rule: skip the dense academic jargon and get straight to the point. Beyond reviews, as Assistant Editor, he helps navigate the broader circus of showbiz, tracking everything from OTT shifts to sudden box office panics. In a beat driven by loud PR machinery and carefully scripted answers, Rishabh prefers cutting through the noise to focus on how stories get made and why trends shift. When he isn’t writing against a deadline, he is usually sitting in a dark theater, compulsively memorising dialogues. For Rishabh, analysing movies isn't just a day job- it’s a habit he couldn't turn off even if he tried.Read More

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