People want hit characters of 90s-2000s: Shehzad Khan on Rakesh bedi, Akshaye Khanna's comeback in 'Dhurandhar'
Mumbai, October 7
The success of 'Dhurandhar' has changed the perception of filmmakers towards actors from the 1990s and 2000s, actor Shehzad Khan said, highlighting the comeback of popular artistes and characters from those decades in contemporary cinema.
Shehzad Khan, son of legendary actor Ajit Khan, reflected on the impact of the 'Dhurandhar' franchise and said the film had given several actors from the 1990s and 2000s an opportunity to return to the big screen in prominent roles.
His remarks came after Akshaye Khanna and Rakesh Bedi received appreciation for their performances in the first and second parts of 'Dhurandhar', respectively.
In an exclusive interview to ANI, Shehzad Khan said, "Now if you look at the villains, I think maybe 'Dhurandhar' can change the whole system to a large extent. After watching Dhurandhar's success, people, especially the directors, their thinking and everything has changed."
"Now they want those people, those characters, the hit characters of the 90s and 2000s, especially after Akshay Khanna, Rakesh Bedi sir, who got his work done. Absolutely, after so many years. So, now that thing is coming back. But everything goes up. It's a circle. It's a cycle. So everything that goes up has to come down," added Shehzad Khan.
The actor, however, said the villains of the 1970s belonged to a different league and could not be directly compared with contemporary actors. He made the observation while discussing Arjun Rampal's villainous role in 'Dhurandhar' and recalling actors such as Prem Chopra, Ranjeet and Pran.
"You can't compare Arjun Rampal to Ranjit sir, Prem Chopra sir, Premnath sir, Najit sir. Arjun Rampal is a different genre of villain. Ranjit sir and Pran sir, I mean, people have I saw that people had stopped naming their children Ranjit and Ajit. They said that if they grow up and become like this, then they won't name them Ranjit and Ajit," said Shehzad Khan.
The praise for 'Dhurandhar' from Shehzad Khan and other members of the film fraternity comes after the historic box office run of Ranveer Singh starrer 'Dhurandhar' and 'Dhurandhar: The Revenge' in the latter part of 2025 and early months of 2026.
The film was directed by National Award filmmaker Aditya Dhar and stars Ranveer Singh in the lead role. Apart from the central role, the movie also stars Rakesh Bedi, R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Akshaye Khanna and Sanjay Dutt in prominent roles.
The 'Dhurandhar' films have reportedly amassed more than Rs 3,000 crore worldwide following their landmark run at the box office.
— ANI
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