Akshaye Khanna was impeccable in Dhurandhar, but was it worth the kind of crazy hype that it received? Well, I am not too sure, because honestly, while it was a solid performance, everyone made it out into something bigger, and now, with Dhurandhar: The Revenge, everyone was hoping for something like that to happen again.

And while it’s been a whole day since Dhurandhar 2 is in theatres, no such crazy hype came out of it, but was there no one worth it? Well, no, because Arjun Rampal has done it. Let’s discuss.

It goes without saying that Arjun Rampal’s Major Iqbal deserves just as much hype as Akshaye got, but maybe it’s more about what is sort of expected out of him and the way Dhurandhar set the expectations. I see people going about and talking about how Akshaye carried the movie, and people are not even mentioning Rampal.

However, that barely means that it isn’t something that he deserves, because as I’ve also mentioned in my review ofDhurandhar: The Revenge, he has indeed managed to carry the film just as much, and he is the worthy villain to Ranveer, because not everyone would’ve or could’ve done what he did.

Sure, we go by public opinion on everything, especially when reviews and audience reactions for films like Dhurandhar are concerned, but sometimes, we let our opinions be clouded by what we’ve known and have seen earlier, but maybe, for this one, we actually get over it.

One user wrote on X, “Akshaye Khanna went crazy viral in just a day of Dhurandhar release. In Dhurandhar 2 ,I don't see anyone even mentioning Arjun Rampal. Infact Modi cameo is the talking point. Clowns who were calling him overrated got a reality check lmao.”

Akshaye Khanna went crazy viral in just a day of Dhurandhar release. In dhurandhar 2 ,I don't see anyone even mentioning arjun rampal. Infact modi cameo is the talking point 😭 Clowns who were calling him overrated got a reality check lmao https://t.co/AukcNEiEPc

— Retired (@iabhi0717) March 19, 2026

I couldn’t agree any less, because even if he hasn’t received enough attention already, as more people watch the film, they’ll get there. Akshaye got what he got because of the theatrics that came with his role of Rehman Dakait, and if you think that’s something you want to make the benchmark for what works and becomes popular, there’s gotta be more ways in which we calibrate success.

Now, I am not denying that Akshaye did not deserve the love he got, but somewhere along the way, the truth is, it felt overhyped, and eventually, it died down because I didn’t ‘miss’ him, so to speak. So maybe, we give the movie time and let Arjun’s performance grow on us, and speak more about it.

Lead and social image credits: Jio Studios