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Birthday Special: 'Not luck, Akshay Kumar gained stardom by hard work’: Filmmakers celebrate Khiladi at 55
As Akshay Kumar celebrates his 55th birthday on September 9, his directors and producer decode the Khiladi’s stardom and his journey in the Hindi Film Industry
Akshay Kumar turns 55 on September 9, 2022, and the Khiladi has spent more than half of his lifetime in the world of cinema. Today, he is considered one of the most bankable stars of Hindi cinema and is popularly termed the ‘ATM of Industry’. He got his big break with the Abbas Mustan-directed Khiladi (1992). It was produced by Ratan Jain (Venus), who wishes all the luck to his hero. Opening up about the success of Akshay, Ratan Jain shares, “He is one of the very prompt actors of Hindi cinema. I call him a no-nonsense actor, who comes on time, leaves on time, and sticks to his commitment. Most of the actors have the problem of timing but Akshay Kumar is a man of his word.”
The filmmaker adds, “The best thing about Akshay is that he never belonged to any film camp. He worked with everybody and gave time to his producer’s basis the script. He never waited for a big producer to approach him, he kept doing multiple films a year. Good and bad films are a part of everyone’s career, but Akshay believes to keep working.” Writer, Rumy Jaffery, who worked with Akshay first on Waqt Hamara Hai and then went ahead to write many other films – from Aflatoon to Mujhse Shaadi Karogi – agrees with Ratan Jain and informs that it has been a memorable journey.
“Akshay is the same person – be it at the high points of his career or the lows. Many became superstars by luck, but Akshay gained stardom through hard work. He is a fighter and not for once did he stop working hard. People should learn from him. Amitabh Bachchan stands for discipline; Akshay Kumar stands for hard work. I have seen him rise in front of my eyes. Today, every producer wants to work with him because he respects everyone’s time,” Rumy exults, adding further that Akshay’s script sense has evolved a lot over the years. Another filmmaker, who made a mark in Khiladi’s illustrious career is Vipul Shah. He directed Akshay in films like Aankhen and Namaste London and was associated with him the capacity of a producer in Singh Is King and Holiday.
The filmmaker shares a lesser-known incident of the Khiladi. “He is fearless. I remember, once a person put his feet on an open electric cable. Without thinking of his safety, Akshay straightaway jumped and saved the person. There was a risk of being electrocuted, but he just pulled the person out of the situation,” he recalls, adding, “He is someone who often looks after his crew. It’s great humanitarian quality. Writer Robin Bhatt is the man behind two of Akshay’s most memorable performances – Ajnabee and Jaanwa – among others.
Much like everyone else, Robin too insists that Akshay Kumar is a very hardworking man. “He supports his director, writer, and producer till the end and this is great quality. He never questions the writer once he signs the subject,” Robin smiles. Sharing a trivia about Jaanwar, Robin Bhatt informs that Akshay was initially apprehensive about sporting a long hair look in the film. “We didn’t want him to look like a conventional Hindi Film Hero, as he was a bad guy. He was initially apprehensive but eventually played the character so well.” Having seen his journey from the days of struggle, Robin concludes, “It has been a superb journey for Akshay. It has been an upper graph. Hats off to him.”
Vipul believes that the two P’s – Professionalism and Punctuality – define Akshay Kumar. “He likes to work in a happy, nice, and fun environment, which adds a lot of energy among others. He feeds off the director’s energy and comes on the set as a blank slate. He is ready to absorb the director’s energy and transform himself into the director’s vision. Even after becoming a superstar, he doesn’t come with any preconceived notion in his head,” explains Vipul, adding further, “He is convincing in anything he does. He doesn’t come with the baggage of his star power. People accept him in anything he does.”
Akshay’s Oh My God director, Umesh Shukla gives an example to support the claims of him being a hard-working actor. “We were shooting for the hospital scene of Oh My God and Akshay sir was down with fever. We canceled the shoot once, but the next day, Akshay sir decided to shoot the scene despite the heavy fever. He felt, it was not fair on his part to cancel the shoot and put someone else’s time and money at stake. Today, we look at that shot as one of the best in the film. Such is his professionalism and that’s how good he is an actor.”
Milap Zaveri is associated as a writer on Akshay Kumar films like Hey Baby, Houseful, and Desi Boyz. Interestingly, Khiladi also made a guest appearance in his director debut, Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai. Milap shares an interesting anecdote. “I remember, Akshay sir was doing a photo shoot for Housefull and we were shooting for Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai in the same studio. We met him and eventually ended up shooting for his cameo on the sets of Housefull. Very few know that Akshay sir has written his cameo with me. That whole gag was written by him,” Milap admits, adding further, “He is a very supportive and sporting person. His energy is crazy. It’s my dream to direct him one day.”
In the last two years, Akshay has worked with director Ranjit Tewari on two films – Bell Bottom and Cutputtli. The filmmaker believes that his hero is a very focused actor. “He is not even distracted by his cell phone. We all need to learn the art of focusing on him. He is very humble, I would say, humility runs in his blood. There’s no insecurity in him. I would say, his focus is extraordinary,” Ranjit exults.
Through the years, Akshay has a track record of working with maximum directors and producers, and most of them have gone on record at some point of time to call the Khiladi the most hardworking actors of Hindi cinema, who have made it to the top bracket of superstars on his own merits. Today, Akshay is the busiest and the highest-paid Bollywood actor, with a versatile lineup of films in the months to follow. Here’s wishing him a happy 55th birthday.
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