Akshay Kumar is synonymous with the name Khiladi. He truely lives up to the name, be it with his death-defying stunts, his witty answers or his suave nature.
One can clearly say that in all these years, no actor has taken away this title from him. Maybe that’s why he decided to play the Khiladi character after a gap of 12 years, with Khiladi 786. In the City to promote the movie he says that in all these 12 years, he missed being the Khiladi.
One realises that though Akshay look rough and tough, he is quite a soft person inside. Each time he comes to the City, he makes sure that he meet all his friends. He remembers shooting in the City and never forgets the fact that he made his debut with a Kannada film.
“The Khiladi series has been a part of me since 1992 and I have enjoyed every bit of it. But then, I did take a break to try something new like comedy. With Rowdy Rathore, I tried action again.
The need to bring back the Khiladi series only grew and here we are with Khiladi 786,” he says. But the actor has ensured not to make any changes in the character. “Khiladi has always appealed to people as a someone who romances pretty women, does death-defying stunts and tops it with a bit a of humour. It has worked all these years, so I am not going to disappoint the fans. I going to give them just that even in Khiladi 786,” he adds.
Getting back into the action mode was exciting for Akshay. The thrill he gets after jumping off a building is simply undescribable. At the same time, he says that he has reached a stage where he is above all fears.
“I don’t really fear anything anymore. Yes, there are good fears and bad fears. But in all these years in the industry, I have faced everything one could face. Even the pressure of a film doing well at the box office lasts only till the first weekend — after which I move on to my next project,” he says
.
Success and failure is something Akshay has learnt to balance. “If I had let myself be affected by every flop or hit of the 125 films that I have done, I would have been bald and dead,” he jokes. “In all these years, I feel I have always remained the same Akshay Kumar as I am today. Nothing has changed me, the only change has been my bank balance.”