Akshaye Khanna As Rehman Dakait: Cinephiles Compare Dhurandhar Star With Hollywood's Finest Villains

Akshaye Khanna made his debut in Bollywood with the film, Himalay Putra, back in 1997, when Ranveer Singh was almost 12 years old. Decades later, they teamed up for Aditya Dhar's spy-action thriller, Dhurandhar, which hit theaters in December and scored the third-largest opening weekend for a Bollywood film this year. Most of the people coming out of the theaters mentioned the same name when asked whose performance dropped their jaws. The answer was 'Rehman Dakait', a notorious character played by Akshaye Khanna.

'Rehman Dakait' isn't just a villain: A look into Akshaye Khanna's performance that silenced a star-packed cast and dominated Dhurandhar

The 50-year-old actor has overshadowed the stupendous cast of Dhurandhar, which includes Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, and R Madhavan. Even before the film's release, all the buzz was around Akshaye Khanna's villainous character, but no one would've thought he would overshadow everyone like cake. While some hailed Akshaye's performance in Dhurandhar as his career's best, critics have labeled his portrayal of 'Rehman Dakait' an acting masterclass.

The entire social media is buzzing with praise for Akshaye Khanna, and apart from his fearsome acting, it is his dance entry to the song, FA9LA, that has left netizens in awe. The character's entry song has taken over the internet, just like Bobby Deol's entry sequence on the song, Jamal Kudo became a meme template back in 2024. While people are loving Akshaye's work in Dhurandhar, it didn't come as a surprise to anyone, as every cinephile is aware of his range. He has played so many memorable negative characters in his career that they still live rent-free in the hearts of Bollywood fans.

Cinephiles rank Rehman Dakait at the top of Akshaye Khanna's villain arsenal, likening him to Hollywood’s most chilling icons

Some of Akshaye Khanna's most memorable villainous works include 'Sid' in Race, 'Varun Awasthi' in Mom, 'Din Dayal' in Dishoom, 'Manu Dada' in Humraaz, 'Captain Ranjit Singh' in Aakrosh, and 'Prithvi Singh' in Iteefaq. However, after seeing his character, 'Rehman Dakait' in Dhurandhar, people have put it right at the top of his filmography as his best villainous role to date. There's no denying the fact that 'Rehman Dakait' will go down in Hindi cinema's history as one of the most brutal and insane villains of all time. The character was so menacing that it has reminded cinephiles of a few iconic Hollywood villains who shared its sleek menace and charm.

 Akshaye Khanna's character, 'Rehman Dakait', operates through stillness and psychological tension throughout the film, and it is exactly how Christoph Waltz's 'Colonel Hans Landa' worked in Inglourious Basterds. Instead of violence, the characters used wit and an unnerving calm to set the stage before bringing their rage on the screen. Both characters didn't lose control, even in the most complex situations, and used silence in a way that felt louder than the guns and explosions.

Rehman Dakait echoes Anton Chigurh's terror and Gordon Gekko's cold charisma, proving Akshaye Khanna's most layered villainious role yet

We also saw the flavours of Javier Bardem's legendary chilling character, 'Anton Chigurh' from No Country for Old Men, in Akshaye Khanna's character, 'Rehman Dakait'. The menace, unpredictability, rigid calm, tonal discipline, and pauses are what make Anton Chigurh's character a chilling villain, and Aditya Dhar has done an exceptional job of adding all these shades to 'Rehman Dakait'. When it comes to body language, Akshaye Khanna's charisma, layered with brutality and terror, reminds us of Michael Douglas' 'Gordon Gekko' from Wall Street.

From Reddit columns to threads on X and Instagram, people are citing these comparisons, and we hope Akshaye Khanna continues to deliver more powerful performances like this one in the future. In the end, we all felt shivers down our spines when Akshaye said, "Rehman Dakait ki di hui maut bahut kasainuma hoti hai," and we hope Bollywood goes only upwards and onwards from this.

What are your thoughts on Akshaye Khanna's villainous character, 'Rehman Dakait', in Dhurandhar? Do you think he is the best villain we've seen in the last decade? Let us know.

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