Fittest of them all

Bollywood buzz

He’s in his 25th year as an actor, one of the six A-list actors. In fact, it is rumoured that it is the price factor that prevented him from doing Hera Pheri 3, but Akshay Kumar says that he was never a part of the project and has always been well aware of the changes.

When we meet at a media interaction for his new film Baby, we find a fitter-than-ever, calmer-than-ever and funnier-than-ever star. “In any case, I am doing other films and would not have had the dates to spare,” he sums up about that sequel. Ask him if he is doing a cameo and he denies it, but adds that he will miss being a part of the franchise.

How does Akshay manage to do four films a year as the solo or main protagonist? “I don’t see what is so difficult,” he answers. “One film takes a maximum 60 days of work, so four movies add up to 240. So I have over three months as holiday each year. And yes, Baby was wrapped up in 45 days, so I had an extra fortnight’s holiday,” he quips.

Commercial to outrageous

Yes, he does balance his films of late between the Baby-OMG Oh My God!-Special 26-Holiday kind of intense movies and the It’s Entertainment-Housefull franchise types. “One has to do the commercial-commercial so-called single-screen movie as well as the so-called satellite-friendly film,” he agrees. “Of late, I have begun to enjoy the former kind even more, but it’s fun to unwind and do a Housefull kind of movie that, to the purists, has no head or tail.”

However, even within the meaningful kinds, there are key differences, like between Baby and his last year’s hit Holiday. “Their only commonality is terrorism,” explains Akshay. “Holiday was a fictional and completely commercial film. Baby is strung together from 15 to 20 real stories.

Years ago, the Indian High Command had developed a crack force of some 25 highly-trained professionals commissioned to search for and eliminate terrorists. This operation was code-named ‘Baby’ as it was something completely new. The existence of this force was confidential and not known to anyone.”

What were his research modules before doing such a character? “My only research was Neeraj Pandey because he told me not to do any. He had done all of it,” he smiles in reply. “Neeraj also knew what I must look like.”

He adds that his get-up and his character in this thriller are all real. “It’s a film wherein we see real, not technology-driven action. One man does not throw 20 people here.”

All praise for technology, he talks about the Optocopter device used to film the action sequences in Baby. “This small remote-controlled helicopter can go where cranes and a normal camera cannot. We get a bird’s-eye view, especially in a chase sequence, as it can fly really high.”

Years ago, Akshay had revealed in a press conference that his wife Twinkle Khanna wants him to win a National award. Is Baby a (baby?) step in that direction, as his co-stars are raving about his performance?

“Did I actually say that?” he jokes with a quirky smile. “Well, no, I don’t know whether I have taken any steps. In fact, I do not know how to answer your question,” he says, and clams up. After a pause, he declares, “But I do hope that I continue to get challenging roles. Merely wanting them is of little consequence, unless filmmakers offer them to me.”

An unusual feature in Akshay’s career is his different phases with filmmakers, like Raj Sippy and Keshu Ramsay in the 90s, Suneel Darshan, Priyadarshan and Feroz Nadiadwala in the millennium’s first decade and Vipul Amrutlal Shah and Neeraj Pandey now. What does he have to say about this?

“This bonding happens when they want to make the kind of films that I want to do at that time,” is Akshay’s brief reply. “But if you mean that I was in or still am in camps, I hate that term because I love bungalows,” he adds with a straight face.

Staying fit

We move to his fitness and discipline, and the lavish praise he gets from co-stars like Rana Daggubati, Taapsee and many other associates in this film and otherwise, who look at him as a role model. Who is his own icon?

“I would say Danny Denzongpa,” he says.” At 70-plus, he looks like a young boy, and if you examine his lifestyle, you will see why that is so. It is because he is so close to nature. Everything is natural with him, and my advice to youngsters today is to be natural.”

Akshay adds, “Discipline is always important, but shortcuts, in the long run, lead to regrets and to damaging one’s health. Like the recent tendency of young boys to develop six and eight-pack abs quickly. In the process, they can even damage their mental health. It’s great to build your body, but you must feel and enjoy all the muscles gradually growing.”

With the same intensity he adds, “Look at all our forefathers. If they did get a heart attack, it was at 90. Now we hear people dying under 40. It’s not normal.”

Adding substantially to his good health are Akshay’s refusal to take work seriously, and his sense of humour. “I do get emotionally drained in my intense roles, but the only way I can look forward to going on the sets every day is to joke and laugh a lot while waiting for any shot. And I enjoy playing pranks — nice, within-limit pranks — too. ”

The superstar also does not have insecurity about his films’ fates. “Yes, there is a fear, but I call it good fear and it is there only till Sunday night,” he smiles.

Does he have any regrets? “My career has been such a smooth and enjoyable ride that regretting something on the way would be like opposing God’s will,” he replies with a smile.

This brings us to the topic of his celebrated co-production OMG — Oh My God! and the current controversy with PK being called a subtle copy of it. “I do not think so at all,” he declares calmly. “It’s like Holiday and Baby — the issue may be same, but everything else is so different.

In OMG…, we stressed that there is a God, a supreme power, but to pray to him you do not have to go to a temple of worship. The word mandir itself is made up of man ke andar, meaning that which is within us. Why not use the money we spend on religious trips and offerings to help the needy, as God lives within each of us anyway?”

Our final query is about superstars today — thanks to business economics, we never see multi-star films between A-listers, as would happen in the past. What is his take on that? “Here I agree with Aamir Khan’s recent statement that we are not united anymore,” he says after some reflection.

“The South industry, for example, does not have this issue as they are having a strong sense of unity. I am sure that if we do have that, the economic issue will be of no consequence.”