Suniel Shetty admits he wanted to be part of 'Dhurandhar'; explains why Ranveer Singh outshone Akshaye Khanna

Aditya Dhar's 'Dhurandhar' made massive numbers at the box office after its release in December last year. While buzz around its part 2 is high, Suniel Shetty has expressed that he wished he was part of the franchise.

Let's learn more about it in detail.

Suniel Shetty shares he wished he could have been part of 'Dhurandhar'

In an interview with Lehren Retro, Suniel Shetty shared he was supposed to feature in Aditya Dhar's 'The Immortal Ashwatthama'. He said, "I was to play a role in Aditya’s Ashwatthama. So it got shelved, signing ho gaya, sab kuch ho gaya. So maine jab 'Dhurandhar' dekhi, I said, 'I wish I could be a part of it.'" (When I watched 'Dhurandhar', I wished I could have been a part of the film.)"

Suniel Shetty says Ranveer Singh's performance was better than Akshaye Khanna's

In the same interview, Suniel Shetty expressed he would pick Ranveer Singh over Akshaye Khanna as a better performer. He said, "Everyone thought Akshaye Khanna was excellent, but I felt Aditya Dhar and Ranveer Singh were even better."The actor further shared that the audience saw Akshaye Khanna's character in a larger-than-life manner since it had background music, and hence everything worked in his favor. Shetty added, "Ranveer, on the other hand, has none of that, yet he still shines.

How? He built the character himself—through his physical structure, his look, and especially through his eyes."

Suniel Shetty on Aditya Dhar's decision to make a film of over three hours

Praising the filmmaker, Suniel Shetty added that in times when the attention span of the audience is less, Aditya Dhar understood their "pulse" and made a movie of three hours and forty minutes. He added that the director knew people have the capacity to sit for long hours post-pandemic, as they are used to binge-watching. Suniel Shetty said, "So he (Aditya) essentially said, 'If you’re watching a web series, watch it on the big screen—I’ll give you a better experience.' And he gave that experience! But that’s the conviction of a director. And he is brilliant the way he thinks."

More about 'Ashwatthama'

The makers had dropped the poster of the film with Vicky Kaushal starring as the titular character. However, the movie was shelved. In 2024, at the trailer launch of 'Article 370', Aditya Dhar expressed that the film on Ashwatthama was "too big" for Indian cinema The Immortal Ashwatthama was announced back in 2020 and was supposed to star Vicky Kaushal in the lead. However, the film was later shelved. In 2024, during the trailer launch of Article 370, Aditya Dhar revealed that the mythological superhero actioner was “too big" for Indian cinema. He had said, "The kind of VFX quality we were looking at, nobody has even strived for it here."