Akshay: I had doubts about playing Prithviraj

Over three decades ago, in a delayed Mahesh Bhatt film called ‘Aaj’, we saw a cameo of a Karate instructor by a fit and young man. In 1990, he also signed a film named ‘Deedar’ as a leading man with veteran Pramod Chakravorty, and it released only in 1992. By this time, Akshay Kumar had already featured in ‘Saugandh’ and ‘Dancer’ (1991), ‘Mr. Bond’ and his first hit, Khiladi (both in 1992).

Thirty years later, with many ups and downs in his career, Akshay has established himself as a “safe actor” (trade parlance for someone who ensures return on investment). Since 2018, he is also the biggest star in Hindi cinema, with an enviable record of 16 hits versus just two flops, ‘Laxmii’ during the pandemic and ‘Bachchan Pandey’ recently.

His latest film, ‘Prithviraj’, in which he essays the 12th century Hindu emperor Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan, is set to be out on June 3.

Akshay reveals that after his initial doubts about fitting the role (the principal available picture of the emperor shows a stout man!), he surrendered to the vision of his writer-director Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi. “Prithviraj died at the age of 36 after fighting 18 battles that ranged from 20 to 25 days each,” said the actor during an interaction at Yash Raj Studios.

“Such a man had to be athletic! Chandraprakash-ji was researching him for 18 long years—who does that?”, he added.

What impressed him about the character? “It is his respect for women, which was way ahead of its times. His capacity to forgive is a quality I would like to develop, because most of us do not forgive a wrong done to us. I do move on if someone does or says something unpleasant. But people love to keep grudges,” he reasoned.

Akshay, as is his wont, completed the film in 42 days, thanks to the impeccable team. “I like to do three or four films a year and I must compliment the disciplined crew. I have always said that I am a producer’s actor and will do anything to ensure that planning and budgets do not go askew,” said the 54-year-old actor.

Akshay praised his co-star Manushi Chhillar. “She has a bright future. I was astonished when she not only remembered her dialogues but also everyone else’s!” he said.

On the recent controversy around the South India versus Hindi cinema, Akshay had a stern warning. “Don’t try and divide India. This is exactly what the British did to us. I want everyone’s films to do well. We are all one Indian industry. I don’t care who has said what. What is the point? Think of what you can do to make films work, not what someone else is doing.

“When I came in, films were made in Rs. 15 to 25 lakh. Now our budgets are 250 crore and more. This progress is as much because of the South filmmakers as us. We are all together in this,” he said.