By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
Akshaye Khanna, as most readers are aware is son of late Vinod Khanna. Khanna, bestowed with many accolades ,started his career with film “Himalay Putra”. It was followed by J. P. Dutta’s blockbuster ‘Border’ (1997),based on the historic ‘Battle of Longewala’ in 1971.The film featuring Jackie Shroff, Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty, Akshaye Khanna, Sudesh Berry, Puneet Issar, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rakhee , Tabu, & Pooja Bhatt, had a lovely & popular number “Sandese Aate Hai” rendered by Roop Kumar Rathod, Sonu Nigam .The film won three National & one filmfare Awards. “Border” was the highest grossing film of the year 1997 ahead of “Dil To Pagal hai”.Khanna won Filmfare Award on Debut. He was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor Award. J.P.Dutta wanted to make a film on the subject for years & he had shared this to me during my visit to his Juhu Bungalow with a local PRO in 1992.
Khanna later appeared in “Taal” (1999) and “Dil Chahta Hai” winning a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. “Humraaz” (2002) directed by Abbas Mustan was a thriller starring Bobby Deol, Akshaye Khanna and Amisha Patel .His other notable films include murder mystery ’36 China Town’ (2006) & the action thriller ‘Race’ (2008).
The story of ’36 China Town’ revolves round a rich casino owner Sonia Chang (played by Isha Koppikar) who is murdered in her mansion at 36 China Town. The investigative agencies are baffled to find many suspects . The film starred Shahid Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Kareena Kapoor, Paresh Rawal & Payal Rohatgi.
