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Akshaye Khanna was told he’s ‘not successful’, he smiled and responded: ‘Everyone is ahead, I am the last one in the race’

Akshaye Khanna was asked to explain why he wasn't as successful as some of his contemporaries like Abhishek Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan.

2 min readNew DelhiDec 26, 2025 01:13 PM IST

Akshaye Khanna has exited from Drishyam 3. (Photo: Express Archives)

Akshaye Khanna’s career had a major resurgence in 2025 after the actor appeared in Chhaava and Dhurandhar. Both these films saw him in negative roles, and after Dhurandhar, his stardom has multiplied manifold. But, for the unversed, the actor has been around for 28 years now, and in an earlier interview, he was questioned why his solo hero films weren’t as successful as some of his contemporaries like Abhishek Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan.

“I have gotten much success as a solo hero, I have seen some success, but not as much. But you are saying like… You are trying to say that unless I become as successful as Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan or Salman Khan, you won’t consider me a success. That’s a little odd,” he told Prabhu Chawla in 2007. This interview was conducted shortly before the release of his film Gandhi, My Father.

He said that this was like comparing a businessman to JRD Tata or Dhirubhai Ambani, and saying that unless they are as successful as them, they aren’t a success. “You are saying that I am not a success,” he said as he was visibly amused. The interviewer then proceeded to compare him to Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham and Hrithik Roshan, and said that they were appearing in many solo-hero films, and experiencing success.

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By this time, Akshaye pretended to accept some defeat in this argument and himself said, “Everyone is ahead, and I am the last one in this race.” The interviewer couldn’t get the hint and further questioned, “Don’t you feel a certain complex that these people are doing solo films, but I am not?” Akshaye said, “I am trying that in future, I will also be a star of that level, and for that, I am working hard.”

He was then asked about cliques in Bollywood and why the likes of Karan Johar and Yash Chopra were not casting him in solo hero films, and to this, Akshaye simply said, “You should ask them.”

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