One question. Five words. And a moment that’s now dominating every social media platform in India.
Can I dance?
That’s what Akshaye Khanna asked director Aditya Dhar in the middle of filming a crucial scene for Dhurandhar in Leh Ladakh. The choreographer had planned everything. The background dancers were ready. The camera angles were set. And then Akshaye, dressed in a crisp black suit as the menacing Pakistani crime lord Rehman Dakait, decided to throw the script out the window and just feel the music.
What happened next is now being called Bollywood’s next Jamal Kudu moment. The dance move that nobody planned. The viral sensation that nobody saw coming. And the performance that’s reminding everyone why Akshaye Khanna is one of the most criminally underrated actors in Hindi cinema.
His co-star Danish Pandor just revealed the full story behind that improvised dance sequence, and honestly? It’s even better than what you saw on screen. Because sometimes the best moments in cinema happen when talented actors trust their instincts and directors are smart enough to let them.
The Scene That’s Breaking The Internet
Let’s set the stage. Dhurandhar, Aditya Dhar’s follow up to the blockbuster Uri: The Surgical Strike, hit theaters on December 5, 2025. The spy thriller stars Ranveer Singh as one of India’s first undercover agents, R Madhavan as National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, and Akshaye Khanna as Rehman Dakait, a powerful Pakistani crime lord and politician.
The film is set across decades, from the 1970s to present day, chronicling covert operations between India and Pakistan. It’s intense. It’s political. And it features Akshaye Khanna in a role that’s generating more buzz than anyone expected.
Then comes the entry scene. Rehman Dakait steps out of a luxury car in Balochistan. He’s meeting his people for a deal involving ISIS. The Bahraini hip hop track FA9LA starts playing. Traditional dancers perform in the background. And Akshaye, who’s supposed to just walk through the scene, suddenly asks if he can dance.
Director Aditya Dhar’s response? Whatever you feel like doing.
What Akshaye felt like doing was delivering one of the most hypnotic villain entrances in recent Bollywood memory. He watches the dancers for a moment. Then he joins them with this slow, deliberate hip twist. A smooth hand wave. A chilling smirk loaded with arrogance, danger, and wicked charm. The kind of body language that doesn’t just introduce a character. It defines him completely.
The scene lasts maybe 30 seconds. But those 30 seconds have spawned thousands of Instagram reels, Twitter edits, and YouTube reaction videos. Fans are calling it peak aura. Ranveer Singh himself shared the track on Instagram with the caption, So here’s THAT track from the movie. FLIPPERACHI.
Share this with anyone who still thinks Bollywood can’t create viral moments.
The Bobby Deol Comparison Everyone’s Making
If FA9LA sounds familiar as a phenomenon, it’s because we’ve been here before. Recently, actually.
In 2023, Bobby Deol made a jaw dropping entrance in Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal to an Iranian song called Jamal Kudu. He walks into frame in slow motion, beard perfectly groomed, intensity radiating from every pore, while this absolutely wild Middle Eastern track plays. The internet lost its mind. The song, which had been around for years, suddenly became a global sensation. Bobby’s career got a massive second wind. And that entrance became one of the most memed, recreated, and celebrated moments in recent Indian cinema.
Now it’s happening again with Akshaye Khanna and FA9LA. The parallels are impossible to ignore. Both are villain introductions. Both feature non-Hindi tracks from the Middle East. Both rely on the actor’s presence and charisma more than dialogue or action. And both have become cultural moments that transcend the films themselves.
Fans are explicitly drawing the comparison. Akshay Khanna’s Jamal Kudu moment is here, one Twitter user declared. Another wrote, Just as Jamal Kudu helped define Bobby’s character in Animal, FA9LA shapes the identity of Rehman Dakait in Dhurandhar.
But here’s what makes Akshaye’s moment even more impressive. Bobby’s entrance was meticulously planned and choreographed. Akshaye’s was completely improvised on the spot. He trusted his instincts, asked for permission to experiment, and delivered something that will probably outlive the film itself.
That’s the difference between a good actor and a great one.
What The Co-Star Revealed
Danish Pandor, who plays Uzair Baloach, Rehman Dakait’s cousin in the film, shared the behind the scenes story in an interview with Filmygyan. And his account makes the moment even more special.
We shot this in Leh Ladakh, Danish recalled, and Vijay Ganguly was choreographing the whole song. We all heard the track and were stunned by how amazing it was. So Aditya sir was explaining the shot to Akshaye sir. The whole choreography was happening, and in the middle of that, Akshaye sir asked Aditya, Can I dance? Aditya sir said, Do whatever you like.
Then came the magic. So everyone is dancing and he looks at everyone and then he starts dancing on his own. And we were all awestruck.
Awestruck. That’s the word Danish used. Not impressed. Not surprised. Awestruck. Because they watched an actor in his 50s, known for intense dramatic performances, suddenly tap into this cool, menacing swagger that nobody knew he had in him.
The choreographer had done all this planning. But Akshaye didn’t follow those steps. He created his own movement vocabulary that fit his character perfectly. That hip twist. That hand gesture. That smirk. All improvised. All in the moment. All absolutely perfect.
It’s the kind of creative confidence that only comes from decades of experience and deep understanding of your craft. Akshaye didn’t need to prove anything. He’s been one of Bollywood’s finest actors since the 1990s. But he still brought that level of spontaneity and risk taking to a role that could have been played safely.
Tag someone who needs to understand what real acting looks like.
The Song That’s Stuck In Everyone’s Head
Let’s talk about FA9LA itself because this track deserves its moment too.
The song is performed by Flipperachi and Daffy, with music by DJ Outlaw. Flipperachi, whose real name is Hussam Aseem, is a leading figure in Khaleeji hip hop. He’s based in Bahrain and has been building a following in Gulf countries for years. But FA9LA, which he released in 2024, didn’t become a phenomenon in India until Dhurandhar brought it to mainstream Bollywood audiences.
The title FA9LA translates to fun time or party in the Bahraini dialect. It’s a celebration track. High energy. Infectious rhythm. The kind of song that gets stuck in your head after one listen.
When placed in the context of Dhurandhar, the song takes on darker connotations. Rehman Dakait is celebrating, sure. But he’s celebrating deals with terrorists. Power moves in the criminal underworld. The contrast between the upbeat music and the sinister context creates this unsettling tension that makes the scene so memorable.
It’s brilliant musical storytelling. And it’s introduced a whole new audience to Gulf region hip hop, which has been thriving but flying under the radar in India.
Fans are now discovering Flipperachi’s entire catalog. The artist has seen his streaming numbers explode. And he’s getting recognition in a market he probably never expected to reach. That’s the power of strategic song placement in a big budget Bollywood film.
Don’t scroll past without adding FA9LA to your playlist immediately.
The Shah Rukh Khan Connection
As Akshaye Khanna’s performance in Dhurandhar generates buzz, an old video of Shah Rukh Khan praising the actor has resurfaced and is going viral alongside the FA9LA clips.
In the video, SRK is speaking at an event and can’t help but express both admiration and frustration about Akshaye’s career choices. I genuinely mean it as an audience from Himalay Putra onwards, Shah Rukh says, whenever I have seen him as an actor, which is seldom, too less, or maybe that is beautiful that he comes once in a while and when he comes he creates something really unfathomable as an actor. I really appreciate your acting and this is honest truth.
Then comes the kicker. But I would also ask you, Why the hell are you like this?
It’s said with affection and humor, but Shah Rukh is asking what everyone in Bollywood has wondered for decades. Why doesn’t Akshaye Khanna work more?
The actor made his debut with Himalay Putra in 1997. He’s delivered incredible performances in films like Dil Chahta Hai, Taal, Border, Gandhi My Father, Dishoom, and Race. He’s proven himself in comedy, drama, action, and thriller genres. Critics have praised him consistently. Yet he chooses only a handful of projects each year.
Old interviews reveal Akshaye has always been selective about his work. He’s not interested in being a celebrity. He avoids the limelight. He doesn’t do endorsements or brand partnerships. He doesn’t maintain a social media presence. He just acts when he finds material that interests him.
In an industry obsessed with constant visibility, Akshaye Khanna has built a career on the opposite principle. And somehow, it works. Because when he does show up, people pay attention. His performances generate buzz precisely because they’re rare.
The Dhurandhar moment is perfect evidence of this strategy. Akshaye hasn’t been in a major release in a while. So when he appears as Rehman Dakait and delivers this show stealing performance, it feels like an event. The scarcity creates value.
The Director’s Vision
Aditya Dhar’s decision to let Akshaye improvise speaks volumes about his confidence as a filmmaker. Uri: The Surgical Strike made over 340 crore rupees at the box office and became one of 2019’s biggest hits. Dhar could easily have become the kind of director who micromanages every detail.
Instead, he created an environment where actors feel empowered to take creative risks. When Akshaye asked, Can I dance? Aditya could have said no. He could have insisted on sticking to the choreographed plan. He could have worried about how it might affect the pacing or tone.
But he said, Whatever you feel like doing. And that trust resulted in the film’s most viral moment.
That’s smart directing. Knowing when to control and when to let go. Recognizing that sometimes actors know their characters better than anyone else. Being confident enough in your vision that you can adapt when something unexpected and brilliant happens on set.
Dhurandhar is Aditya’s second directorial effort and his first collaboration with Ranveer Singh. The film also stars Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, and features an ensemble cast bringing this decades spanning spy thriller to life. Early reactions suggest the film is dense, ambitious, and politically charged. Some critics have called it bigoted and propagandistic. Others are praising it as a gripping espionage thriller.
But regardless of where people land on the film’s politics or execution, nearly everyone agrees on one thing. Akshaye Khanna steals every scene he’s in. And that FA9LA entrance is worth the price of admission alone.
The Viral Aftermath
Since Dhurandhar’s December 5 release, FA9LA has become a full blown phenomenon. Instagram reels feature people recreating Akshaye’s dance move. Twitter threads analyze the cinematography of the scene. YouTube channels have posted reaction videos with millions of views.
The track has climbed streaming charts. Flipperachi has gained tens of thousands of new followers. And Akshaye Khanna, the actor who deliberately stays out of the spotlight, is trending across every platform.
Fans are creating fan edits overlaying the song with clips from Akshaye’s other films. Meme accounts are having field days with screenshots of his expressions. Fashion bloggers are breaking down his black suit look. Even people who haven’t seen Dhurandhar are sharing the viral clip.
It’s become one of those rare moments where a single scene transcends the film and enters pop culture on its own terms. Like Shahid Kapoor’s Mere Yaar energy walk in Kabir Singh. Like Hrithik Roshan’s Ek Pal Ka Jeena entrance in Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. Like Amitabh Bachchan walking in slow motion in Mohabbatein.
These moments become part of Bollywood’s visual vocabulary. Years from now, people will reference the Akshaye Khanna FA9LA dance without necessarily remembering what film it came from. It’ll just be one of those iconic entrances that everyone recognizes.
And it almost didn’t happen. If Akshaye hadn’t asked that question. If Aditya hadn’t said yes. If they’d stuck rigidly to the plan. The scene would still be good. But it wouldn’t be legendary.
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The Underrated Factor
Akshaye Khanna’s career is fascinating because he’s achieved something incredibly rare in Bollywood. He’s maintained critical respect, industry admiration, and audience goodwill without playing the celebrity game.
He doesn’t attend every award show. He doesn’t do late night talk show circuits. He doesn’t post gym selfies or vacation photos. He just shows up, does brilliant work, and disappears again until the next interesting role comes along.
In an era where actors build brands as much as careers, Akshaye is a throwback to a time when the work spoke for itself. And somehow, that approach has kept him relevant across nearly three decades.
His filmography is selective but impressive. The vulnerability he brought to Siddharth in Dil Chahta Hai. The menace in Race. The emotional depth in Gandhi My Father where he played Mahatma Gandhi’s troubled son Harilal. The comedy in Hungama. The intensity in The Accidental Prime Minister where he portrayed a sitting prime minister.
Every few years, he reminds everyone of his range and talent. And every time, industry insiders and critics ask the same question. Why don’t we see more of him?
The Dhurandhar moment suggests the answer. Maybe the scarcity is the point. Maybe showing up less frequently means each appearance carries more weight. Maybe choosing quality over quantity is actually the smarter long term strategy.
Not every actor could pull that off. Most need constant visibility to stay relevant. But Akshaye’s talent is undeniable enough that he can afford to be selective. And when he does appear, he makes sure it counts.
The Final Word
Akshaye Khanna asked if he could dance. Aditya Dhar said yes. And Bollywood got one of its most viral moments of 2025.
That improvised sequence in Dhurandhar is now being compared to Bobby Deol’s career defining Animal entrance. It’s introduced Flipperachi and Khaleeji hip hop to millions of Indian audiences. It’s reminded everyone why Akshaye Khanna is one of the finest actors of his generation. And it’s proven that sometimes the best creative choices happen spontaneously.
Shah Rukh Khan asked why Akshaye is the way he is. Why he chooses so few projects. Why he stays out of the limelight. Maybe this viral moment answers that question. Because when you only show up for material that excites you, when you trust your instincts enough to improvise, when you prioritize craft over celebrity, the work speaks loud enough that you don’t need anything else.
FA9LA is now stuck in millions of heads. That hip twist and hand wave have been recreated thousands of times. And Rehman Dakait has joined the pantheon of memorable Bollywood villains not because of elaborate planning, but because an actor asked a simple question and a director trusted him enough to say yes.
Comment below if you’ve watched Dhurandhar and whether Akshaye lived up to the hype. Share this with every Akshaye Khanna fan who’s been waiting for his next big moment. And tell us, does his approach to career longevity selective, mysterious, quality over quantity actually work better than constant visibility? Let’s debate because this conversation is just getting started.
