West Bengal politician Saira Shah Halim on Friday recalled Dhurandhar actor Akshaye Khanna’s reserved persona as a student, revisiting her time in school, where Akshaye was her senior.

In an Instagram post titled ‘Lawrence School Lovedale Ooty's original Heartbreak Kid’, Saira wrote, “Perhaps I haven't shared this before, but Akshaye Khanna was a couple of years senior to us at Lawrence School Lovedale where I was a boarder along with my brother Major Mohommed Ali Shah.”

“Back in the hallowed, halls of Lawrence School Lovedale, there was a lot of excitement one day, the buzz was that Vinod Khanna's son is joining in class 11th and we were intrigued about who or what he looked like,” Halim, who contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from South Kolkata on a CPI(M) ticket, wrote.

“For the next two years we saw him every day, while passing us by, or by walking up and down the campus, one bumped into him as one came out of the tuck shop etc etc and boy he was the school crush! Period,” she added.

“Akshaye wasn't the boisterous captain of the football team; he was the quiet storm. He was reticent and a brooder and the only drama he caused was in the hearts of his school mates,” she wrote.

“Akshaye was a man of mystery. One who never attended school socials, was never a part of big groups, he just needed to quietly exist while sipping tea in the lawns or taking a solitary walk in the school campus,” Halim added.

“Despite never being a ‘ladies man’ in the traditional sense, he was the most popular senior on campus,” Halim recalled.

“His dad Vinod Khanna and stepmom visited him often I recall. Much later I wasn't surprised he went on and joined films, some films clicked, some didn't in all of this one thing remained static-he was low key and mysterious throughout, just the way he is now. Glad he is getting his due recognition,” she further said.

The post was accompanied by an old photograph of Akshaye, who is currently basking in the success of the film Dhurandhar where he has earned praise for playing a mafia ganglord Rehman Dakait. The Aditya Dhar-directed spy thriller that also stars Ranveer Singh, Arjun Rampal, R. Madhavan and Sara Arjun.