2025 is a landmark year for actor Sudhanshu Pandey. For the first time ever, he appeared in a reality show, The Traitors. This is also the year when he would complete 25 years as a film actor; his debut film, Khiladi 420, was released on December 29, 2000. The dashing and talented actor spoke exclusively with Bollywood Hungama in June this year on this film and a lot more.
EXCLUSIVE: Sudhanshu Pandey reveals how he bagged his debut film, Khiladi 420: “Akshay Kumar saw me in a CONTROVERSIAL beer ad and recommended my name; on the sets, we used to sing together; he used to talk to me in Punjabi”
When asked if he remembered that he’ll soon celebrate his 25th anniversary, Sudhanshu Pandey replied, “Yes, of course. I remember every step of my life (laughs)! I especially remember Khiladi 420 as it was my first film. I was the parallel lead along with Akshay Kumar.”
How did he bag the role? Sudhanshu Pandey revealed, “I was simultaneously doing TV shows around that time. In those days, there were limited television series. I had done something for B R Chopra and the show was called Beta. Khiladi 420 came to me through Akshay Kumar. Akshay’s cousin, Sachin, who’s no more, was a very dear friend of mine. One of the ads I had done was extremely popular at that time. It was for a beer brand, San Miguel India. It was directed by Kunal Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor’s son. I did some of my best work with Kunal. This was one of them. It was so popular that everybody only spoke about that ad. It was slightly controversial in terms of the concept! Because I was the hero of the ad, everyone knew me in Mumbai by that time.”
Sudhanshu continued, “Akshay saw me in that ad. This is when he told Sachin ‘Apne ko ek aur actor chahiye. Why don’t we ask him to come? I’ll make him meet Neeraj Vora’. I met Neeraj bhai. He finalized me. That is how I bagged my debut film!”
He added, “Sachin was also an actor as well as a photographer. A lot of my earlier photographs were shot by him. He was a lovely guy.” Sudhanshu Pandey also praised his first-ever director, “Neeraj Vora was incredible and one of the geniuses that I got to work with in the beginning of my career.”
Is he still in touch with Akshay Kumar? Sudhanshu Pandey said, “Of late, I haven’t been in touch. But we have had a very great bond. He’s a Punjabi-speaking person and he loves talking in Punjabi. Although his Punjabi is very limited, he still likes to talk in Punjabi all the time (smiles). I can speak Punjabi as my mother is a Sikh. We used to always have that bond. He loves cracking jokes and so do I. I worked with him later in Singh Is Kinng (2008). My third and last film with him was 2.0 (2018). I met him just once after that.”
He added, “On the sets of Khiladi 420, we connected immediately as my brother knew him. Akshay also loves singing. We used to sing together as well (laughs). We have had some great times together.”
When asked about life after his debut movie, Sudhanshu Pandey explained, “After Khiladi 420, I got into Band Of Boys. I couldn’t take any other film offers as I was bound by a contract. Then for the next three years, I was singing, dancing and performing. We became a big entity. Around 2005, I resumed working on films. My comeback happened with a film called Yakeen (2005). It was a great concept and very well made. It was one of the best films in the careers of me, Arjun Rampal and Priyanka Chopra until then.”
The film had an unpredictable suspense and made for a decent watch for that time. Sudhanshu agreed, “True, it was a total surprise in the end.”
More Pages: Khiladi 420 Box Office Collection , Khiladi 420 Movie Review
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