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Exclusive: Akshaye Khanna on Mom co-star Sridevi: As a leading lady, to keep yourself relevant over a span of 50 years is frightening
In a candid interview with Pinkvilla, Akshaye Khanna talks about his movie Mom, Sridevi and completing 20 years in Bollywood.
Akshaye Khanna made his debut in Bollywood, 20 years back with the movie Himalay Putra which was produced by his father Vinod Khanna. Since then the actor has starred in many popular movies like Border, Dil Chatha Hai, Taal, Humraaz amongst others.
The actor has gone through many ups and downs in his professional life, but that has not demotivated him. His movie Mom which also stars Sridevi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui released today and he will also be seen in Sidharth Malhotra and Sonakshi Sinha's Ittefaq which will release by the year-end.
Recently, Pinkvilla had a candid tête-à-tête with the actor who spoke about his movie Mom, Sridevi as well as his illustrious yet underrated 20-year journey in Bollywood
Excerpts from the interview:
What was it about the script that attracted you to Mom?
Everything about the script. There isn't just one thing about it. Over the years, when you get a little experience, it's easier with time - one reads so many scripts and hears so many stories. When you come across something good and something that you feel is quality, you sense that this is a quality piece of writing, that is basically how you choose. Then there are so many other aspects too. Maybe a quality piece of writing, but does it have a good person backing it, who else has reacted to the material and have they got good people on board. So all those things make a difference, a big difference.
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What was it like to work with a veteran actress like Sridevi?
I have worked with many before. I have worked with many veterans who over the years - right from my first film I have worked with Hema ji and my dad, I have worked with Rajesh Khanna...I can go on and on. It's not something that I have not done in the past. But Sridevi is somewhere a very special unique kind of a talent. I can't really compare her with any other actor that I know off or I have worked with. She has achieved so much over the years. It's very easy to say 'Oh! It's been 50 years or 300 films' and just to say it very casually. But when you are an actor, you really understand it at a different level ki what that achievement actually means. From someone who is standing outside, the experience of filmmaking or the experience of being an actor, the struggle of being an actor no matter how successful you are, it's still a day-to-day struggle. As a leading lady, to keep yourself relevant over a span of 50 years is frightening. It's a frightening achievement. It's something that a handful of people in the world of cinema; I'm not talking about India alone, has been able to achieve. One must understand the enormity of the achievement. You must have the utmost respect for it. So, I think she is a very unique and rare talent. Someone who has not only conducted her professional life in a very...of course, you can always say 'oh, this person has been very lucky!' but there is a certain amount of commitment and a certain way that you live your life which allows you to have a career like this. I think she has conducted both her professional and her personal life with so much panache and dignity. Those are all the qualities which one has to take into account when one celebrates a career like this.
What was it like to work with Nawazuddin Siddiqui?
I had not worked with Nawaz before so I had no pre-conceived notion. He's a really nice and sweet guy. He's not only a good actor, he's an exciting talent. What sets him apart from the new talent that we see today, there are very few who are as exciting to watch as him. There's a certain level of excitement when you take his name with the kind of work he has done in the last 4-5 year or the kind of attention his choices get. One looks at him very differently from one who look at actors who have been around the same amount of time that he has. He's a great actor to bounce off and I enjoyed working with him.
During an interview recently, Boney Kapoor had said that Mom is Akshaye's real comeback. What is your take on Boney Kapoor?
We both are extremely fond of each other and I have the deepest respect for him. He is really one of those blue-blooded quintessential producers. Someone who comes with such a vast experience of filmmaking. What separates...and I have heard this about Boney Kapoor for so many years and I've never had the opportunity to work with him, so I never took it as seriously as I take it now when I say that he really is one of the best producers that we have in the country. One has to really have to have the experience of working with different producers to understand the value of a Boney Kapoor. The value that he brings to a project is humongous.
As Sridevi has worked with your father Vinod Khanna, do you have any memories of Sridevi as a child?
I have a few but they are very vague memories. Nothing really prominent though. I remember being on the set and she was there...I was very little. But, no distinct memory.
You've completed 20 years in the industry so how has that journey been for you?
It's been beautiful. I can't say that I have any regrets, of course, one does stupid things. Especially when you start work at a very young age - when you are not mature enough to understand the responsibilities of being a professional actor. I was an especially immature person. I was 19 and I was not mature enough to understand my own responsibility. So yeah, I wish I was more mature, that's the way it was. I think as a journey...we've all done good films and bad films, some terrible films but I think that's going to happen in the future also. Nobody makes 100 percent correct choices except for Aamir Khan but everybody...we've been part of good films, we've been part of bad films. Some performances maybe liked, some maybe disliked but the focus should always be on the creative process. If one distances oneself from getting too affected by failure or too affected by success, so both things are easy or hard to deal with. They both have to be taken with a little pinch of salt and it's not easy. And I'm not just talking about the acting profession, I'm talking generally. In any profession, what one does - the focus should be on that. Yes, success will come, failure will come, there will be downs, there will be ups - that's part of life. As long as you want to keep the focus to improve one's self and keep the creative process going, if that's the focus then you will always be a winner.
Were you approached for The Sanjay Dutt biopic? And are you comfortable with playing an older character like a father figure right now as there are still a few elder actors who play younger roles?
Some people may not want to do 100's of things. That doesn't mean that I don't want to do it. If you're making a film on Sanjay Dutt's life and say Ranbir Kapoor is playing a role where he's playing Sanjay Dutt from the time Sanjay was say 21 till the time he is 51-52. And the role that was offered to me was of Sunil Dutt, so Sunil Dutt's role in that same slice of life will be playing from say 40 to till her 70 years old. Ranbir maybe 34-35, he's still going to play a Sanjay Dutt who is 52. I may be just 42 years old but that role requires me to be in makeup and prosthetics to go up to a 70-year-old man. What difference does it make? As long as the role and script are good. How old I am or how old my character is, it's make believe. If I play a character whose age is 40 years in the beginning of the film and in the end of the film, he's 70 years old. Makeup is going to make me look that way and whatever it is. It doesn't make a big difference. It's not like if I play a role of 70, I become 70. I'm still 42 (Laughs) so it doesn't matter. I've played roles where I have aged in one film called Gandhi: My Father. I played from a very young age till the time he died, that character, Harilal. You can do a Benjamin Button - does it make a difference to Brad Pitt? No, that he was playing a 100-year old ugly looking..no, it doesn't matter.
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