Happy Birthday Akshaye Khanna: 5 movies that prove that the nepotism debate apart, this actor is a man for all seasons

Actor Akshaye Khanna, who made his debut with Himalay Putra in 1997, was for a long time, known for his chocolate boy good looks. Initially struggling to find his way, the actor, son of late Vinod Khanna slowly cemented his place in the industry, with some powerful roles on screen. As the actor turns 48 today, here's looking at his finest performances through the years, across various genres...

Surprisingly, the actor put in one of the most nuanced performance of his career in just his second movie, director J.P. Dutta's war drama, Border. Standing tall amidst performers like Sunny Deol, Suniel Shetty and Jackie Shroff, the actor played 2nd Lieutenant Dharamvir Singh Bhan, who gives up his life for the country at the Battle of Longewala in 1971. His death scene, till date, remains one of the most heartbreaking moments on screen.

The actor dabbled in comedy and emerged victorious and how. This rib-tickling movie sees Akshaye play the role of Jeetu, who falls in love with Anjali (Rimi Sen), thinking she is businessman Radhe Shyam Tiwari's daughter. A series of confusing events lead Radhe Shyam to believe that he in fact, is in love with his wife, also called Anjali. The mad tale co-starred Paresh Rawal and Aftab Shivdasani.

The actor effortlessly stepped into the role of a rakish antagonist in this Abbas-Mustan thriller, co-starring Ameesha Patel and Bobby Deol. The actor plays the ambitious Karan, who coaxes his girlfriend Priya to marry the millionaire Raj, planning to get her to divorce him later and claim all his money. However, things go awry when Priya falls in love with her husband and breaks up with Karan, leaving him seething in ager and desperate for revenge.

In this coming of age drama, directed by Farhan Akhtar, Akshaye plays the reticent Siddharth, who brings in the much needed sanity to his otherwise loud and boisterous friends Akash (Aamir Khan) and Sameer (Saif Ali Khan). As he falls in love with the much older Tara Jaiswal, he gets into a spat with Akash regarding the same, leading to the two drifting apart for many years. The movie, co-starring Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni and Dimple Kapadia has achieved cult status over the years.

One of the most underrated performances of his career, the movie sees Akshaye star as Harilal Gandhi, the son of Mahatma Gandhi. As the movie depicts the intricate, complex and strained relationship of the father-son duo, Akshaye fits seamlessly into the role of a son, who does not want to follow in his father's footsteps. Co-starring Darshan Jariwala, Bhumika Chawla and Shefali Shah.

Apart from these, some of other movies worth watching of Akshaye are Deewangee, Section 375 and Drishyam 2.