‘Unhappy’ Drishyam 3 director recalls Akshaye Khanna’s last-minute exit: ‘We had seven days’

Akshaye Khanna and Ajay Devgn in stills from Drishyam 2 and Drishyam 3 respectively. (PC: STarStudios/YouTube)

Drishyam 3 The Conclusion, starring Ajay Devgn, is one of the most anticipated films of the year and was previously supposed to feature actor Akshaye Khanna, reprising his role from Drishyam 2. But days before the shoot, the actor exited the project. As per director Abhishek Pathak, the exit came following the enormous success of Dhurandhar, and was communicated to him just seven days before the shoot was scheduled to begin.

‘Unhappy’ with Akshaye Khanna’s exit

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Drishyam 3 director, Abhishek Pathak shared his plight of being stranded without a crucial character. From finding a replacement for Akshaye Khanna’s character, to tweaking the character, to sticking to the actual shoot days, Pathak was running from pillar to post after Khanna’s exit. The shoot was supposed to begin after Christmas but the film’s makers were left without an actor for Akshaye’s part. Abhishek Pathak revealed that his whole crew was “unhappy” with the way things panned out, while assuring that there was no “panic” on set. “I won’t say panic, but we were not happy with the whole idea. I thought, ‘Ye kya tareeka hua (What is this)?’”

Abhishek Pathak shared that the toughest part was to not cancel the shoot because of the logistical commitments that had already been made. A large amount of money had already been in preparing for the shoot, dates were taken from the combination of actors, and the whole crew had locked those dates for Drishyam 3. Postponing the shoot would only lead to financial crisis for the makers. The director stated, “The tough part was the call to continue, to just tell the team: ‘Hold on, don’t cancel anything. We will do it’. Bol to diya par ab karna bhi padega. Likhna bhi tha (I said these things, now, I will also have to do it, had to even rewrite things). I asked for 2-3 days to figure out if we could achieve it. We were seven days away from the shoot when we were to film his scene with Ajay (Devgn) sir.”

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Jaideep Ahlawat was hired last minute to fill in for Akshaye Khanna

He continued, “Set lag chuka tha (The set had been erected). We couldn’t cancel. There are so many people depending upon us to earn money. They have not taken any other jobs at this time. Everyone from the DOP to the production designers had locked their dates. People like light assistants and spot boys earn per day, and that would have all gone for a toss. That is not cool. Then, the dates we had were with combinations of so many actors. These are all big actors. I can’t suddenly tell them to give me dates later. They have other big films lined up, and those directors won’t leave those dates for me. So, we took that call.”

Drishyam 3 makers finally roped in Jaideep Ahlawat for Akshaye Khanna’s character. With such a short notice in hand, the director admitted to the publication that it was a “daunting task” for Jaideep to come on board. “To come at the last minute and blend into the character is something. It wasn’t as if he had six months to prepare and do workshops. He had a few days. We did two readings before I left for my shoot, and then he came 1-2 days before his shoot was supposed to start. He asked a few questions and read the script. He had a look test in Mumbai. We both leaned on each other because it was all so last-minute. For him, it was a challenge entering a journey he wasn’t a part of earlier. For him to come and become a part of the film was challenging, but he did it beautifully,” said Abhishek Pathak. 

The filmmaker recalled his conversation with Jaideep, “He was kind of replacing a character that had been liked by the audience. I called him, and he asked me, ‘Casting change or character change?’ I told him I am changing the character. Then, he read it and found it fun. All that happened within 5-6 days.”

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When Kumar Mangat Pathak called Akshaye Khanna ‘unprofessional, toxic’

In an earlier chat with Bollywood Hungama, producer Kumar Mangat Pathak had claimed that Akshaye Khanna had exited the film because he wanted to renegotiate his remuneration after the success of Dhurandhar. He claimed that the actor’s energy on set was “toxic” in a previous film they had collaborate don and called him “unprofessional.”

He added, “Some actors do ensemble cast films and after those movies become big hits, they start thinking that they are the star. That’s exactly what has happened with him. He thinks he’s a superstar now. Success has gone to his head. He told us, ‘Dhurandhar is working because of me’. He needs to understand that multiple factors worked in favour of Dhurandhar.” Pathak had also claimed that Khanna demanded a wig for Drishyam 3, which did not make sense for their story.

About Drishyam 3

Drishyam 3 The Conclusion continues the story of Ajay Devgn’s Vijay Salgaonkar and also stars Tabu, Shriya Saran, Rajat Kapoor, Ishita Dutta, Mrunal Jadhav, and Kamlesh Sawant. Joining the cast freshly, are Prakash Raj and Jaideep Ahlawat. The film is slated to release on October 2.