Akshaye Khanna ‘improvised’ viral dance move in Dhurandar, carried an oxygen cylinder while shooting song

With Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandar creating buzz, Akshaye Khanna, who plays Rehman Dakait, a powerful Pakistani crime lord and politician, is making even more noise with his standout performance in the film. The actor’s dance in his entry song “Fa9la” is going viral. Fans are comparing the current hype around Akshaye’s dance to Bobby Deol’s viral “Jamal Kudu” moment in Animal. In a recent interaction, Akshaye’s Dhurandar co-star Danish Pandor revealed that Akshaye improvised the dance steps that have now gone viral on social media.

Speaking to Filmygyan about Akshaye’s dance being completely spontaneous, Danish said, “He did all of that on his own. Full choreography was happening and in the middle of that Akshaye sir asked Aditya, ‘can I dance?’ Aditya said, ‘whatever you feel like doing.’ So everyone is dancing and he looks at everyone and then he starts dancing on his own. And we were all awestruck.”

The viral scene shows Akshaye Khanna dressed in a crisp black suit. He steps out of a car, hugs a leader and greets the crowd. He has Ranveer and Danish following him with other men. However, when he sees dancers perform a traditional routine, he joins them and then takes his seat.

In an interview with Mid-Day, choreographer Vijay Ganguly also talked about Akshaye’s improvisation. He said, “Originally, he was supposed to enter, walk through the dancers, and sit on the throne. Seeing the scene’s mood and the dancers’ performance, the fantastic actor that Akshaye is, he said he would dance a bit when he walks in. None of us knew what he was going to do. Akshaye entered the scene, took it from that point, and spontaneously performed.”

Ganguly also revealed that since the song was shot in Ladakh, Akshaye’s oxygen level decreased in the high terrain and he had to carry an oxygen cylinder with him while he shot the song. He said, “Akshaye would carry a small oxygen cylinder with him. When we were shooting this song, his oxygen level had dropped. So, after every shot, he would put the oxygen mask on. He did the sequence unflinchingly, and then went home.”

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The track used in the scene, “FA9LA”, is performed by Gulf-based hip-hop artist Flipperachi. The song released in 2024, but it has gone viral in India after Dhurandar’s release. Earlier, Ranveer Singh shared the track on Instagram and wrote, “So here’s ‘THAT’ track from the movie. FLIPPERACHI.”

While Akshaye Khanna’s performance is getting attention from fans, many of his old clips—where he talks about staying out of the limelight and doing only a few projects—are also doing the rounds. In an old clip, Shah Rukh Khan is seen praising Akshaye’s performances. However, the superstar also couldn’t help but ask Akshaye why he picks only a handful of projects.

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Akshaye Khanna made his Bollywood debut with Himalay Putra back in 1997. In the clip, SRK recalled his debut performance and said, “I genuinely mean it as an audience from Himalay Putra onwards, whenever I have seen him as an actor, which is seldom, too less, or maybe that is beautiful that he comes once in a while and when he comes he creates something really unfathomable as an actor. I really appreciate your acting and this is honest truth. But I would also ask you, ‘Why the hell are you like this?’”