Yami Gautam reacts to Akshaye Khanna’s Dhurandhar-inspired viral dance, says ‘Hands down, the winner’

Yami Gautam shares a heartwarming video of an Akshaye Khanna-inspired dance from Dhurandhar. Read what she said.

Ever since Aditya Dhar’s much-awaited film Dhurandhar was released, people have not stopped talking about it. From its layered characters and gripping storyline to the impeccable performance by actors, the film has been making a strong run at the box office. Headlined by Ranveer Singh, this film marks his explosive comeback after almost 2 years. But besides him, another actor that people cannot stop talking about is Akshaye Khanna. From his layered character to his dance entry on the song FA9LA, the Hulchul actor has been getting a lot of love and attention, not just at the box office, but also on social media.

Akshaye Khanna’s dance in Dhurandhar – An internet-wide phenomenon.

After Akshaye Khanna’s understated yet distinctive dance moves from Dhurandhar went viral, several meme pages, fan pages started recreating his dance, turning a brief hookstep into an internet-wide phenomenon. What began as admiration for the actor’s performance soon evolved into a cultural moment, drawing parallels between past and present and even inspiring heartwarming fan reactions.

Becoming the standout moment from the film, his moves in the song FA9LA has struck a chord with viewers, leading fans to dig out old clips from his earlier films and point out how his dance style over the years closely resembles the steps seen in the song. Several reels recreating the now-viral hookstep have since flooded social media.

The nostalgia didn’t stop there. Fans also resurfaced an old archival clip of Akshaye Khanna’s father, veteran actor Vinod Khanna, reportedly from a concert held in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1989. In the video, Vinod Khanna can be seen dancing in a manner strikingly similar to his son’s viral moves.

Akshaye Khanna’s viral dance in Dhurandhar was unscripted

What’s even more interesting is that this dance by Akshaye Khanna was unscripted and totally his idea. Choreographer Vijay Ganguly revealed in an interview that Akshaye’s steps were entirely spontaneous. He told the publication, “The song is a celebration of Akshaye’s character being crowned as the Sher-E-Baloch. Originally, he was supposed to enter, walk through the dancers, and sit on the throne. Seeing the scene’s mood and the dancers’ performance, the fantastic actor that Akshaye is, he said he would dance a bit when he walks in. None of us knew what he was going to do. Akshaye entered the scene, took it from that point, and spontaneously performed.”

Ganguly further added, “It was the first shot we took that day, and it was perfect. Then we did a close-up, and we were done. Akshaye knows exactly what he has to do in a scene and plays with it.”

Yami Gautam shares a recreation video of Akshaye Khanna’s dance from Dhurandhar

Adding to the internet’s fascination, actor Yami Gautam, Aditya Dhar’s wife, joined the ongoing buzz. She re-shared a fan-made video inspired by FA9LA on X (formerly Twitter). The clip shows a couple celebrating the birth of their baby girl. While the mother dances joyfully holding the newborn as the text reads, “When the doctor said it’s a baby girl,” the father joins in, breaking into Akshaye Khanna’s now-viral hook step with the caption “Le my reaction.” Sharing the video, Yami wrote, “Hands down, the winner.”