While most prefer calling themselves directors' actors, Akshay Kumar says he tries to ensure nobody makes a loss when they cast him in their films.
Deepali Dhingra catches up with the superstar as he readies for the release of Boss this week
Every actor has his own way of handling success and dealing with failure. After more than two decades in the film industry, Akshay Kumar, too, has his own mantra. “When a film releases on Friday, by Saturday morning it’s confirmed whether it’s a hit or not. If it’s doing well, I’m very happy. If it’s not, then I’m unhappy for two days and on Mondays, I’m back, working on my next film. I move on,” says the actor, whose career has seen a lot of highs and lows.
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When we meet Akshay on a Monday evening at Mehboob Studio in Bandra, he’s finishing the final portions of a song for A Murugadoss’s film Holiday, but what’s keeping him occupied these days are promotions for his upcoming release Boss. The film, that’s being talked about for the man-to-man fight sequence in the climax, was one of the toughest shoots for the actor. “I don’t know what was happening in Bangkok those few days, but the temperatures had shot upto 47 degree celsius. We were shooting in a sand quarry with dust everywhere. The sun was shining on top of us and we had to shoot a fight sequence on the hot sand,” he recalls. But the results, he says, were worth it. “I did something which used to happen in earlier films -- a man to man fight. These days, you see VFX and cables, with the hero fighting 30 goons at the same time. Here, it’s six minutes of the hero versus the villain,” he adds.
But what makes this film more special for the actor is the father-son relationship depicted in the film. “I shared a great rapport with my father and for me, the father-son relationship is really special. In fact, I realised that there is hardly any song on this relationship and I especially requested my producers to include one,” says Akshay. And while we’re speaking about Boss, we couldn’t help but ask him the cheesy “Who’s the boss at home” question, to which, the actor gives his trademark grin and says, “The wife, of course.” Not that we expected any other answer.
It’s a known fact that Akshay is a family guy. And after the birth of his daughter Nitara a year back, the actor has been feeling the need to spend maximum time with his wife and kids. It’s not possible at the moment -- Akshay is one of the busiest actors in the industry today, with a number of filmmaker wanting to cast him in their ventures. No wonder then, that his name is counted along with the Khans. But the actor believes it’s all a part of destiny’s game. “It’s not that I have calculated or done some manipulation to sustain my success. I have done it through my hard work. I’m a producer’s actor. I make sure that nobody makes a loss. And if that happens, then I sit with him and try and help him out,” says Akshay, adding that he counts luck as a major factor in his success. “I think it’s 70 per cent luck and 30 per cent hard work. I watch plays where there are actors ten times better than me, or I see models who are far more good looking than I am. So I always think it’s all part of destiny’s plan,” he says.
u00a0If there was one thing that was missing from his success, it was the critics’ green signal. And now that he’s got it, with films like Oh My God, Special 26 and Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara, the actor admits it’s good getting a thumbs-up from critics. “It does matter in a small way, I wouldn’t lie. Who doesn’t like getting four stars in the review? Everybody likes it when somebody messages to tell you that you’ve got four stars for a film. And if somebody messages saying you’ve got only two stars, then you’re like ‘Magar film toh hit hai na boss!” laughs Akshay. Well, doesn’t look like he needs to worry so much about the stars now. The public’s vote, after all, has always been in his favour.u00a0
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