If the true challenge of fame is to preserve one's privacy, then this star child has unequivocably won the game. The only things known about Akshaye Khanna are the things he wants us to know.

    Despite the short number of films he has starred in, Akshaye Khanna registers high on the celeb-o-meter. His intense, brooding aura and surprisingly sweet smile have won the audience's attention despite the spectacular flop of his debut performance in Himalay Putra and follow-up film Mohabbat. In his latest movie, Dil Chahta Hai, Akshaye plays a man in love with a much older woman -- and the unconventional role, as well as the film's critical and commercial success, have done wonders for his fledgling career.

  Still, the film journalism establishment is not satisfied with chronicling his work alone, and recently rumors have surfaced regarding the nature of his relationship with his hairdresser, from whom he is rarely separated. Akshaye's response is typical -- and somewhat bizarre despite its very sensibleness. "It's so stupid to link me with her. It really bugs me. She's just helping me with my hair." Um, okay. Hair is important, we guess. He elaborates: "Poor thing, is so disturbed because of the rumours. We actors can handle all these scandals. But it's different for these people. They are normal people. So let them be. Avan is just a good friend. That's it. There's nothing to the rumours at all." (Filmfare, Dec. 2001)

   No doubt because of his refusal to discuss his personal life, Akshaye lacks the media's good graces. He's perceived to be very unfriendly. "I don't really know how this misconception has set in. I guess it stems from the fact that I keep to myself. I don't like to talk on the sets. Basically, I'm a loner. So it becomes easy to label me. It's only when people meet me they realise that I'm none of the horrible things. Okay, I have moods. But then so does everyone." (Filmfare, Dec. 2001) Of his co-stars: "It bugs me when I see actors not taking their job seriously. Some of them are so careless, their attitudes are all wrong. They are here for all the wrong reasons. That gets to me." (Filmfare, Dec. 2001)  But in regards to himself, Akshaye has no complaints. "I don't regret anything in life. In retrospect my life has turned out just the way I would had wanted. Everything has fallen into place. I've always known who I am in terms of what brings me happiness. And that's not negotiable." (Filmfare, Dec. 2001) Akshaye, unlike with some stars, we completely believe you.