India, March 1 -- Actor Akshaye Khanna has been earning widespread acclaim for his turn as gangster Rehman Dakait in Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar. However, veteran author and columnist Shobhaa De feels the hype built around his character was manipulative.

Shobhaa De recently appeared on Rediff Originals for a podcast, posted on YouTube, where she reflected on the success of Dhurandhar and the massive hype surrounding Akshaye Khanna's character in the film.

In the spy thriller, Akshaye was seen as the menacing Pakistani gangster Rehman Dakait. His performance was applauded by many, including his dancing entry in one scene to the song Fa9la, which went viral on social media.

Talking about all the chatter around Akshaye's role in the film, Sh...