What do you think makes Akshay Kumar click?
Simple. He connects. The way Mr Bachchan did it in the 80s (and stilldoes!), Govinda did it right through all the No 1 movies of DavidDhawan...in the same way Akshay connects. People relate to him. Likethe best of performers, he isn't just cool, he has created the newdefinition of cool. He's no longer acting, he's on flow, having aball. So much so that it transcends the screen and gets tothe audience too.
Your opinion of him as an actor?
I'm biased, of course. I think he is fabulous. He's reinvented himselffrom a hardcore action hero to an all-round entertainer who canpretty much carry off anything, very much like Mr Bachchan in the 80s.You see his earlier work and now, it's clear that he's made a deadlyleap forward. And yet if you examine the journey, it's no single leap but small precise deliberate steps. Bettering himself film by film. MrBachchan always was a great actor.. Akshay has really worked his wayup performance by performance. I think the turning point was HeraPheri and Khakee.... again, maybe I am biased, but I thought MrSantoshi really brought out the best in him in Khakee...
What made you choose him for Chandni Chowk to China? How has his presenceadded to the film?
Added to the film? He is the film!Look, it's terrifying, but Chandni Chowk to China was written specificallywith Akshay in mind. If he had said no, I had no back upactor, I was well and truly f****d (forgive my language please!). You'relooking for an actor who can do action and comedy and drama andcooking equally convincingly... a mix of Harold Lloyd and Jackie Chanand Stephen Chow and Amitabh Bachchan and Sanjeev Kapoor... How manycan do that? How any can do that except Shahrukh? It's a return to thecinema of the underdog... Like in Manmohan Desai movies where Amitabhis a coolie, a waiter (Coolie, Naseeb) and you might be a VP in an MNCbut you relate totally, you are so with him and cheering all the way.
Anyway, I grew up watching and loving Mr Bachchan and always wanted todo a film in that territory.... Namak Halaal, Kaalia, Naseeb... wherecritics might rape you, but the audience wants to go to bed with you.So anyway, I've worked with Akshay earlier in Khakee and a few yearsback we were chatting about our mutual love for martial arts comedies,specifically Jackie Chan and Stephen Chow. Stephen Chow is likeManmohan Desai on steroids. I wanted to write a film like that and hewas into it on an idea level. A couple of years of writing later, I methim during the shoot of Waqt and told him I finally had somethingready. We (producer Rohan Sippy and I) pitched the script to him. Heliked it immediately. Maybe it wasn't the pitch but the poster we'dmade. We were so confident that he was the only guy who could pull itoff that we had designed posters and artworks with him. Incidentally,the same design we showed him is the first poster of the film. He saidyes and Rohan and I got drunk at a nearby bar in Andheri in the middleof the afternoon out of sheer joy.
In his own career how does the film mark a departure -- or anevolution or growth?
Well this is a nice old masala film. Like a dialogue in the Bond film Never Say Never Again goes: "Good to have you back Mr Bond... let'sget back to some old fashioned sex and violence." So we were tryingto recreate the mood and the sheer joy of the films of Mr Bachchanthat we grew up on when we were eight.... no idea if it's anevolution/growth or a past life regression. Past lives incidentally work asa key component of this film.
As a writer can you think of making him do a totally "hatke" role?Do you think he can take risks in a way say Aamir does?
Nothing Aamir does is a risk. If he did a documentary on Adivasis inthe Andamans he could possibly make it Sholay (smiles). But on a more seriousnote (laughs), I think Akshay can carry off anything. If he can't today,he'll make sure he can do it tomorrow. Because that's how bloodyhardworking and disciplined he is. Love to see him as a total motherf****r villain type character... the right blend of humour andsheer g****giri (quotable version: villainy) .. like the Joker in Batman movies. I think he would be cool. If you are doing a Ramayan, I see him as a superb Hanuman orRavan.
Will he be able to get out of that "man of the masses" image he has... ?
Now why would you want to do that? It's like saying can you somehow getBipasha Basu out of her sexy image and make her more into a Nirupa Roytype mother figure. Sure we can do it... but, hell, do you really wantto make the wheel square? Will the world forgive you?
