Akshaye Khanna, who has emerged as an unlikely social media heartthrob in recent weeks following the success of Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar, has reportedly walked out of Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam 3. The film is currently being shot and is scheduled for an October 2 release in 2026. Multiple reasons are said to be doing the rounds regarding Akshaye’s exit, the most prominent being remuneration issues. According to industry chatter, the actor sought a fee hike after the commercial success of Dhurandhar. However, the producer of Drishyam 3, Kumar Mangat Pathak, painted a far less diplomatic picture as claimed that “fame has gone to Akshaye Khanna’s head” and went on to add that his films on his own “cant even collect Rs 50 crore in India.” Pathak also revealed that he had sent a legal notice to the actor for unprofessional behaviour, alleging that Akshaye walked out just ten days before the shoot, despite having accepted an advance payment.
Regardless of the exact reason behind Akshaye’s exit or the reported creative differences with the producers, a larger question remains: how indispensable was Akshaye Khanna to the Drishyam universe in the first place? What did his role truly contribute to the franchise, and what does his departure mean for the film’s financial prospects?
Akshaye Khanna was not part of Nishikant Kamat’s Drishyam (2015), the official Hindi remake of the 2013 Malayalam film. He joined the franchise only with Drishyam 2 in 2022, playing IG Tarun Ahlawat. His character was introduced largely for narrative convenience. By the end of the first film, Tabu’s character, IG Meera Deshmukh, leaves Goa and settles in London after failing to bring Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay Devgn) to justice for the murder of her son, Sameer. Tarun Ahlawat, a close friend of Meera, effectively joins her in the sequel, reopening the case and attempting to extract a confession from Vijay and his family, solely to deliver the justice Meera never received.
Akshaye Khanna’s character never becomes as intriguing as Tabu’s in the Drishyam universe.(Photo: Tabu, Instagram)
In practical terms, Tarun Ahlawat enters Drishyam 2 roughly midway through the film. Much of his screen time is devoted to conventional investigative tropes: mind games, intimidation tactics, and calculated pressure on Vijay’s family. There are familiar scenes meant to establish his intelligence, including moments where he is shown playing chess with himself, as well as visits to the Salgaonkar household in Vijay’s absence, where he attempts to unsettle Nandini Salgaonkar (Shriya Saran), Anju Salgaonkar (Ishita Dutta), and Anu (Mrunal Jadhav). To the character’s credit, Tarun does manage to extract a confession from Vijay during interrogation. But, as is customary in the Drishyam films, the last laugh rests with Vijay. In the closing stretch, he once again outsmarts both Tarun and Meera, reinforcing the franchise’s core dynamic.
As a result, Tarun Ahlawat never quite attains the dramatic weight nor the narrative dominance that Tabu’s Meera Deshmukh enjoyed in the first film. Compared to Akshaye’s recent turn in Dhurandhar, where he was given far greater scope to explore layered emotions and moral ambiguity with the crime kingpin Rehman Dakait, Drishyam 2 offered him a comparatively restrained role with almost zero arc. Whether the third film intended to significantly expand his character remains unknown, but it is hardly surprising that an actor coming off more “meaty” role may have grown hesitant about reprising a part unless his expectations were met.
Only time will tell if Akshaye Khanna’s decision to step down from a blockbuster franchise like Drishyam was a wise move.
The impact of Akshaye’s exit is difficult to quantify, but there is precedent to consider. In the Malayalam Drishyam franchise, the third installment has already completed shooting, as confirmed earlier this month by filmmaker Jeethu Joseph on Instagram. In that version, the role corresponding to Tarun Ahlawat continues to be played by Murali Gopy, who also appeared in the second film.
In the Hindi adaptation, however, Kumar Mangat Pathak has confirmed that Jaideep Ahlawat will replace Akshaye Khanna. Pathak has also maintained that Akshaye’s presence or absence does not materially affect the franchise, arguing that Drishyam is a bigger brand than any individual actor. There is some merit to this claim. The Drishyam franchise indeed enjoys an enormous mass following. The fact that Drishyam 2, released just after the pandemic in 2022, went on to become the second-highest-grossing Hindi film of the year, only solidifies the same.
And, in fact, this was achieved despite the film being a remake of an already successful Malayalam original and despite comparisons with Mohanlal’s widely acclaimed version. That said, Akshaye Khanna is undeniably experiencing a renewed wave of popularity following Dhurandhar. Whether this resurgence is driven more by the film itself or by audience interest in him as a marquee draw remains to be seen. Bollywood has witnessed similar moments in recent times, most notably with Bobby Deol’s much-celebrated comeback in Animal, which was followed by a gradual cooling of the surrounding hype. Only time will tell whether Akshaye’s decision to walk away from the Drishyam franchise proves to be a calculated career move or a missed opportunity.