Akshay Kumar has expressed his desire to play the role of retired IPS officer K Vijay Kumar, who led the STF which was instrumental in launching ‘Operation Cocoon’ to kill forest brigand Veerappan.

K Vijay has chronicled the story of the killing of the dacoit in his book titled ‘Veerappan: Chasing The Brigand’ and Akshay, who was present at the book launch, said, “I would love to play him as the whole planning and how the operation had to be conducted was done by him.”

The book relives the various incidents that shaped Veerappan’s life — from his birth in Gopinatham in 1952 to his death in 2004 in a shootout after years of police efforts.

“It’s a book worth reading. I am so happy to be here among the real heroes. The reel hero gets an opportunity to be here with the real hero,” Akshay said.

The retired IPS officer said he admires Akshay’s work and the healthy lifestyle that he leads.
Asked how he deals with success and failure, Akshay said, “I have done 130 films and I have faced it (hit and flop films) as well. A lot of times during the trial show of a film I feel it's going to work but it doesn't. All it (failure) gives me is the motivation to work harder and to try and do something more spectacular. The whole idea in this film industry is to work harder and harder,” said the National Award-winning actor.

On the work front, Akshay will next be seen in “Toilet Ek Prem Katha” opposite Bhumi Pednekar. Directed by Shree Narayan Singh and produced by Akshay Kumar, the film also features Anupam Kher and Sana Khan.

For another film ‘Padman’, he has teamed up with Sonam Kapoor. The film is directed by R Balki.