‘I DON’T HAVE AN EGO’

Actor Akshay Kumar says if a film’s script is good, he wouldn’t mind playing even a character role in it; adds it’s important to look back at your journey and remember the firsts

If you have woken up before your usual time to meet a film star, chances are you are heading to meet Bollywood’s official “morning person” Akshay Kumar. And even though you may be groggy and half-asleep, Akshay’s energy is bound to rub off on you. Well, the Khiladi Kumar has all the reasons to be ebullient, as his biggest film till date, 2.0, alongside Rajinikanth, is set to release. “It’s not just my most expensive film, it is India’s most expensive film yet,” says Akshay, as he opens up about replacing Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film, and how it doesn’t bother him when a film that has been rejected by other actors is offered to him.

You have completed 27 years in the industry…

Not 27, it has been 28 years because I started shooting (for Saugandh) in 1990.

It’s been a very long time. Don’t you think?

Abhi kahaan? Abhi toh aur bahut kaam karna hai. I want to work for 30 more years (smiles).

Do you look back at how the journey has been?

Yes, I always look back. I feel peeche mudke hi dekhna padta hai, tabhi yeh sab rahega. You know, I still have my old car in the garage downstairs. I had bought that car, a Fiat, for ₹28,000. I don’t remember the registration number of any of my other cars, except that one. Likewise, I don’t even remember my new flats’ numbers, but I clearly remember the flat number of my first house that I had bought in Lokhandwala. You should never forget your firsts.

Workwise, you have 2.0 coming up. You are playing a negative role after 17 years, the last time being in Ajnabee (2001). What made you say yes to this film?

It is the film’s script. And besides, I would be working with Shankar sir and Rajinikanth in this film.

Didn’t you have any apprehensions about not playing the ‘hero’?

I feel it’s very narrow-minded to believe that if I am a hero, I should only play the ‘positive hero’ roles. These things really don’t matter. If the film’s screenplay is good, I don’t mind playing even a character role in it. I had done a film called Khakee (2004), where my character dies a little after the interval. That role was originally written for Paresh Rawal. When they couldn’t get him due to date issues, I asked them if I could do the role.

This is something that Hollywood actors understand in the best way. You see even big Hollywood stars doing a 15-or 20-minute part in a film, just because they like the script, want to work with that director, or just wish to be part of a particular film. Yeh sirf hamare yahaan ki thinking hai. Aur hero kya karega jab picture hit nahi hogi.

So, you never think on those lines?

See, you have to be part of a good film that will become a part of history. Vis-à-vis 2.0, in future, koi bhi yeh nahi bolega ke iss film mein sirf Rajinikanth tha, but villain [ka role] toh aise hi tha. The film, in its entirety, will be a part of history.

So, I feel it is amateurish to think that hero hai toh sirf hero ka hi role karna hai. Woh zamana chala gaya. I don’t even mind doing a four-hero film as long as the script is good.