Akshay Kumar on what makes his blood boil, a shifting career graph and spending half his life in the movie business<\/p>\n
In a career spanning almost 25 years Akshay Kumar is currently at the proverbial peak. He has done it all \u2014 started off with perfect action chops in films like Khiladi and Mohra, romanced with aplomb in Dhadkan and Namastey London and brought the house down with laughter in Hera Pheri, Bhagam Bhag, Singh Is Kinng and more. One of the most successful contemporary stars he is not just about 100 crore returns anymore. There is also a pronounced sense of conscience and engagement with significant social issues in recent films like OMG, Airlift and Jolly LLB2, a strain that is continuing in his upcoming projects Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Gold and Padman. What\u2019s more he also has tremendous respect, power and clout now \u2014 cinematic as well as political. His new film Toilet\u2026 releases next week and on September 9 he turns 50. Time for him to look back and ahead with The Hindu. Excerpts from an email interview:<\/p>\n
From enjoying mass popularity for action films and comedies to winning National Awards. There has been a definite shift in your career graph. Was it consciously planned?<\/p>\n
In this line of work everything has to be a conscious decision; timed and planned. I didn\u2019t suddenly wake up one day and said I wanted to be more serious about my career. The timing was right, I was getting intrigued by offbeat scripts and there was a desire to give my audiences more than a laugh and a giggle. I felt it was time to reinvent myself, to really make a difference to my country, even if it\u2019s teaching the audience a bit of history that didn\u2019t sink in during school days, or to remind them that we can change our society, our beliefs, our attitude towards hygiene. I don\u2019t mind even if I have the smallest of impact in this world, I just want to be able to say I tried.<\/p>\n
What attracted you to unusual subjects like Toilet Ek Prem Katha and Padman?<\/p>\n
These are serious issues that need to be addressed, stories that need to be told, facts that need to be heard and circumstances that need to be changed. What better way for people to become more aware [of them] than through entertainment. My film AirLift was about a patriotic, historical event that hardly anyone knew about. But now that story is going to be told in every history class throughout India. The Guinness Book of Records has been googled in India more than ever since my film brought to light the fact that it was the biggest air evacuation in the history of mankind that took place during the Gulf War in Kuwait. A proud moment in history that had been forgotten because of a lack of awareness.<\/p>\n
The same goes for Toilet\u2026 This subject is crucial to India\u2019s health & sanitation [concerns] but more importantly how it affects a majority of women in this country. We call it our Motherland, yet our mothers, wives and sisters quietly and shamefully have to live without toilets and in conditions that should be inexcusable especially in this day and age. My blood boils for their health, safety and comfort and I hope these films have a positive effect on everyone and create a change not just physically but socially as well. There are far too many taboo subjects in India that need to be brought out in the open and put in perspective. This is not the Stone Age. If we can travel to the moon and back, we can provide ourselves with sanitation.<\/p>\n
Fields are for crops. If certain societies say it\u2019s revolting to have a toilet in a home where food is cooked, then they need to be made aware that defecating in fields where food is grown is far more unethical.<\/p>\n
Such subjects are risky. Not the kind of stuff commercially successful films are made of. Did you think at all about the risks involved?<\/p>\n
Absolutely. With power comes great responsibility. With risk comes uncertain outcome. With courage comes unimaginable change. With the will to put other people\u2019s lives before your own comes a blessing from God. I knew what I was getting myself into, I knew the commercial risks, the money involved, the image I could damage if my efforts didn\u2019t find acceptance but I also knew that I\u2019d never forgive myself if I didn\u2019t try, if I let fear of failure rule my \u2018want\u2019 to do something good. No one can predict the future. I can only try. What has to happen will happen regardless of my good intentions.<\/p>\n
You are being touted as the new nationalist hero of the times. The Manoj Kumar of this generation\u2026<\/p>\n
I am no one but myself. Manoj Kumarji is a legend in his own right. I am just a man trying to help make a change. We can\u2019t expect the government to do everything. It takes all of us to improve India, no one man\u2019s efforts or bright ideas can move mountains, it\u2019s going to take more than my movies to spark the next step. But where there\u2019s a will there\u2019s a way. One step followed by 10 million more steps will take you to where you want to be.<\/p>\n
This September you will be turning 50. What does the number mean to you?<\/p>\n
It means I\u2019m not 21 anymore, so maybe I might need to start acting like it! Nah\u2026<\/p>\n
How do you look back at these 50 years?<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t really. I\u2019m so engrossed in looking forward that I leave the past behind, where it belongs. I love my life, I have no need to reminisce or reflect unless it\u2019s about remembering my children\u2019s special moments. I don\u2019t feel the need to remember my own. I was there once, I don\u2019t need to go back and relive it. Time wasted in remembering time is time taken away from your present and more importantly your future.<\/p>\n
What is the secret of the longevity of your stardom?<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve never [taken] a day in this industry, or an opportunity in my life for granted. Forget yourself and do what is asked of you, do what is right, do what will make a difference. Just don\u2019t focus on being a star. Stardom comes from how people see you and view you. Be a good human being and you\u2019ll outshine everyone. Act like a star and everyone will want to tarnish you instead of varnishing you.<\/p>\n
Who have been the major influences, the people who shaped your stardom?<\/p>\n
Without trying to sound clich\u00e9d, my parents are my greatest influence. The traits that people love about me are all a guidance from my father. My work ethics, my punctuality, my drive, my strength to carry on, my empathy for the underdog exist in me because I had the best parents a boy could wish for. They didn\u2019t just teach me [to distinguish] right from wrong, they also taught me to be the best man that I could be for all those around me. They gave you me, I didn\u2019t. It is they who deserve an applause, not me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Akshay Kumar on what makes his blood boil, a shifting career graph and spending half his life in the movie business In a career spanning almost 25 years Akshay Kumar is currently at the proverbial peak. He has done it all \u2014 started off with perfect action chops in films like Khiladi and Mohra, romanced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1412,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1411"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1413,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1411\/revisions\/1413"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}