'I understand what the audience wants'

Raking in

“I don’t produce films for money. I make those films, which I personally want to make.  I don’t know the fate of Patiala House but I am very happy to be a part of it and I have enjoyed working in it. I am not worried whether I would make money from it or not,” said Akshay.

“Today, I am in a position where returns don’t bother me much. I only think about what new I can offer to my audience,” he added.

The actor mentioned that none of the films from his Hari Om Productions has upset him or his distributor so far commercially.

“I have produced eight films so far and none of them were unsuccessful commercially, and neither my distributors had to suffer any losses,” said Akshay. Akhay maintains that actors like him, Shah Rukh Khan or Salman Khan cannot venture in films like Udaan or Tere Bin Laden because high box office returns are expected from their films.

“I have seen the business of these kinds of films. I go and watch every film; I understand what the audience wants.”

 “When a person like me or Shah Rukh or Salman does a film, we have to collect a certain amount of money at the box office so that the distributors and exhibitors get their money back.”

“So we cannot do this kind of films because there is a very niche audience for such kind of cinema.” “These films make a maximum of Rs 8 crore. Commercial cinema does a business of Rs 70 crore. Films like Dabaang make Rs140 crore. So you have to make that kind of films,” said Akshay.

He, however, believes that in the near future, films like Udaan would cater to a maximum audience.“A film like Udaan has a certain kind of audience who would go and watch them. Maybe with time, more people will start watching these kind of films.

In around four years, people may watch only this kind of cinema,” said Akshay.