Casting director Mukesh Chhabra has revealed that three major actors turned down actor Akshaye Khanna’s role in director Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar (2025). He shared that the film was initially rejected by one prominent South Indian actor and two Hindi film actors.
Chhabra, in an interview with Bollywood Hungama, recalled the casting challenges before Akshaye Khanna came on board to play Rehman Dakait. He said, “I can’t take any names but 2-3 actors had said no for his role. I am sure they are regretting that decision today. An actor from South and two from Bollywood gave very weird logic. They said that this is an ensemble cast and its actually Ranveer’s film, but Aditya moves on from negative thoughts quickly.”
The casting director had earlier spoken about Khanna’s hesitance to play the character in the Aditya Dhar directorial. Chhabra, in an interview with Hindustan Times said, “Initially, even Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt and Akshaye Khanna were not sure about being a part of the film. Only R Madhavan said yes. For the others, it took time. Aditya and I were considering so many people, and honestly, earlier, we had never thought we would cast so many big stars.”
Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026), the sequel to Dhurandhar, has been released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. Apart from Khanna, the film also features Ranveer Singh, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan, Sara Arjun, Danish Pandor, Rakesh Bedi, Manav Gohil, Udaybir Sandhu, Bimal Oberoi and Raj Zutshi among others. It is co-produced by Jio Studios and B62 Studios.
The espionage thriller had a theatrical release on March 19, 2026, alongside actor Pawan Kalyan’s Telugu action-drama Ustaad Bhagat Singh. Dhurandhar: The Revenge has earned Rs 1,492.17 crore worldwide in its 15-day box office run.
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