I have completed five films during the pandemic
From taking a 200-member crew to the UK to shoot a film from start to finish amid the pandemic last ear, to wrapping up five films ince then, Akshay Kumar has een leading by example. In a hat with us, the actor divulges hat led to the decision of eleasing Bellbottom in theatres at time when they aren’t operating n full capacity, and how he drew nspiration from frontline
orkers. Excerpts:
Some of the memes are really funny. The recent one, which was a still from my film Saugandh (1991), of me with a stick, read ‘Akshay Kumar preparing for Neeraj Chopra biopic’. Jokes aside, it actually feels good. The worst thing for an actor is to be missing from public memory. I guess this whole experiment of juggling different genres seems to be working.
I pick subjects which I find entertaining. If they help convey a message to the audience, it’s the icing on the cake. As far as jingoism is concerned, it’s a conscious choice. If you overdo something, audiences can see through it. I prefer to keep it to a degree which is believable. The idea is to make audiences aware of stories of India’s unsung heroes, honour them and instil a sense of pride for their achievements. If we manage to do that much, mission accomplished! the character, and look what an amazing job she has done. Congratulations to the makeup artist, Vikram Gaikwad, and his team for pulling off the look.
It did earlier, but with time, I’ve learnt that the lesser time you spend mulling over things which aren’t in your control, the happier you’ll be. We had two choices — sulk and postpone again, or go ahead and let the film decide its fate. Taking control of what’s in our hands, we chose the latter.
I’ll have to redirect this question to two people, God and Rohit Shetty (laughs). In case you have an update, let me also know! On a serious note, with Bellbottom, we’ve taken a step ahead of returning to the big screen. Hopefully, the results will give others confidence to follow suit.