After studying at the Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute in Mumbai, Khanna made his acting debut at Bollywood in 1997 with the film Himalay Putra, which was produced by his father and went without much box office success.
His performance in his upcoming outing, JP Dutta's Border, earned him the Filmfare Best Start Award and a nomination for the Best Supporting Actor Filmfare Award in 1998. After that, a series of unsuccessful films followed such as Mohabbat, Kudrat, Laawaris, Love You Hamesha and Dahek.
In 1999, he starred in Rishi Kapoor's Aa Ab Laut Chalen; Although the film did average business,he was commended for his game. He then starred in Taal of Subhash Ghai, opposite Aishwarya Rai. The film has become a critical and commercial success.
In 2001, Khanna appeared in the cult classic Farhan Akhtar, Dil Chahta Hai. This marked a turning point in his career: the film was a commercial and critical success and Khanna's performance was particularly applauded, later endorsed by Best Supporting Actor Filmfare Award in 2002. Dil Chahta Hai revived the careers of Akshaye Khanna and Saif Ali Khan.
In 2002, Khanna appeared in a thriller Abbas-Mustan Humraaz; His role as a convincing co-artist in this film has earned him much criticism and a nomination for a Filmfare Award for best performance in a negative role. [6] Khanna then plunged into the comedy genre with Hungama (2002) and Hulchul (2004) of Priyadarshan that became box office hits.
After playing in a series of unsuccessful and lukewarm box office films such as Shaadi Se Pehle (2006), Aap Ki Khatir (2006), Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love (2007), Mere Baap Pehle Aap ( 2008), Gandhi, my father (2007), and Naqaab (2007), Khanna appeared in the 2008 Race version. The thriller Abbas-Mustan was the fourth Bollywood film in 2008, and Khanna's performance in a negative role earned him Best Naughty Awards. However, Khanna's portrayal of Harilal Gandhi, the eldest son of Mahatma Gandhi, in the critically acclaimed 2007 film Gandhi, My Father, is unanimously recognized as his best performance as an actor.
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