Akshaye Khanna does not have fans, he has true admirers! The actor has been silently giving beloved characters to Bollywood without beauting drum-rolls. The characters played by him are no 'Raj' or 'Prem' in nature and yet they are iconic. The man with the few words has always shown great choice when it comes to films. His performances in some of the films were much ahead of times, when 'out-of-the-box' wasn't even the trend. Below, I have listed four such roles of the actor that are a part and parcel of every Bollywood cine-lover's life, not just mine! Did You Know Saif Ali Khan was Approached to play Akshaye Khanna's Role in Race and he Rejected it?.

Border

This was one of the first movies of 90s generation where most of them must have cried uncontrollably in the theatres. Akshaye Khanna plays the role of Dharamvir in this JP Dutta war drama. There mustn't be one person who, while watching this movie, wouldn't be rooting for his and Pooja Bhatt's on-screen bonding. His death in the film had the potential of giving a mini-heart attack during those days. Definitely, one of the most cherished roles of his.

Taal

Akshaye Khanna in Subhash Ghai's romantic musical drama Taal, broke that cutesy image of a lover boy who can never go wrong with his love story. He plays this rich guy named Manav who is first blinded by his love (Aishwarya Rai) and then by his family's behaviour. The actor showed the flawed layer in his character subtly, making viewers fall in love with his honesty.

Dil Chahta Hai

Who does not know Akshaye Khanna's 'Siddharth' aka 'Sid?' Way ahead of the time, he made age-gap between two lovers much cooler before anyone talked about it. The character showed that it is okay for men to have emotions and for them to express them uninhibitedly. One of the much-much loved characters of the star.

Race

Rajiv Singh, played by Akshaye is probably one of the best made characters when it comes to Bollywood thrillers of a decade ago. Akshaye's villainous act in the same was like a breath of fresh air. This is one film where a substantial amount of cine-goers rooted for the villain's plan, thanks to the brilliant act put by Mr Khanna.

Anyone who has grown up being a Bollywood movie lover, will always have a special place in the heart for these characters. I wish we got to see more of Akshaye in the future films.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 28, 2020 08:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).