PICTURES: Is Akshay Khanna really aging this badly?

Akshay Khanna hasn’t been an unfamiliar name to the Bollywood industry, but the actor has gone off the screen for some years, sparking speculations whether curtain has fallen on his 19-year-old career.

The actor was spotted a week ago at his father Vinod Khanna’s funeral. The senior Khanna was a veteran actor of the Bollywood and made his mark in the industry with several super-hits including Amar Akbar Anthony and Parwarish.

Akshay Khanna had undergone a hair transplant and was hardly seen with a near-bald appearance. But at his father’s funeral, he was almost a cynosure for the media who spotted him in a rare yet natural look after years.

The Indian media reported that Khanna started going bald in the early 2000s and he had to wear a wig in his film Humraaz that was released in 2001. He was reportedly just 26 when the film released.

And in subsequent films featuring him, he wore a wig.

Akshaye Khanna started his film career in 1997 with ‘Himalay Putra’ film. Akshaye, who started his career with flop film, gave only 8 hits in his career. These include ‘Dil Chahta Hai’, ‘Tal’, ‘Humraj’ and ‘Hungama’. Akshay has done 37 films in his 19-year career.

After ‘Himalay Putra’ his next release was ‘Border’, earned him the Filmfare Best Debut Award and a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1998. After that a string of unsuccessful films followed such as ‘Mohabbat’, ‘Love You Hamesha’ and ‘Dahek: A Burning Passion’.

Akshaye Khanna is 41 years old and has not married yet. About his marriage, he recently said in an interview, “I’m not getting married, I don’t plan to. I’m not cut out for it. My ‘aloneness’ is extremely valuable to me. I know I’m an oddball given that today 90 per cent of all human beings are extremely social, and I, for one, am a part of a profession which is not perceived to be for introverts, but I enjoy my personal space.”