Monday, December 03, 2007
Interview with Akshay Kumar
My guest this week is the lone man standing in the way of the total condemnation of Hindi cinema. No, he's not a Bachchan or a Roshan. He's Akshay Kumar.Akshay: Thank you, Sir.
It's marvellous to have you on Walk the Talk. You're one of the most popular actors among young people, women, grown-ups, and even old people.Akshay: Am I? Thank you very much. I feel very nice about that.
And you are the most fun star.Akshay: Yes, I like doing fun stuff. I like doing things that people enjoy. I love entertaining people. Actually, I didn't realise that. Some of my directors made me realise that I like doing comedy and entertaining people. So I started doing it. It was great.
You started out being serious. More of a maar-dhaad (kind of hero).Akshay: A lot of action and all that. But then everything started changing, thanks to the media, which said, 'He only does action, he's an actor who is just like furniture.' Actually they were being nice, for when I saw some of my old films, I don't think I was furniture but a furniture showroom. It was quite bad. I wanted to change my image, challenge myself, try to do something different.
We've now caught you on the sets of another fun film.Akshay: Yes, that's "Tashan". I'm shooting for it. Vijay (Krishna Acharya) is the director. It's a great film for me to do.
Your fighting image came naturally, because you had learnt martial arts.Akshay: Yes.
And you had the body.Akshay: Well, I did, because I loved doing martial arts, which I started learning when I was nine or ten. I was learning here in Bombay. I asked my dad if he could send me somewhere to learn. I think at that time Bangkok was one of the cheapest places where you could go and learn martial arts. My uncle was working there, so I got this opportunity to go there and learn Thai boxing.
Did you learn it seriously?Akshay: Yes, yes, absolutely. When I came back, I started classes here. I used to teach people. I used to train children and grown-ups. I always thought of being a martial arts instructor; never did I think I'll be in the entertainment business.
But you had a tough time in Bangkok? Was it a struggle?Akshay: Do you want me to be honest?
Yes.Akshay: No, I didn't have a tough time. It was actually a lot of fun. I used to wake up in the morning, start practising. Then I was a small-time cook there, so I used to cook.
In a restaurant?Akshay: It wasn't even a proper restaurant, Shekhar. It was just a small dhaba, a Thai dhaba, where lots of Indians and Thais used to come.
And you did everything, including washing the dishes?Akshay: Everything, even serving. I used to make food, serve people. Well, life was very good. I used to enjoy it. People used to come there, and the best part was, when Thai women used to come there, they never gave any tip, they used to just peck you, kiss you, and go. That was the biggest tip we used to get. Then I used to learn martial arts in a school that was in a small lane. It had a rope and a small boxing bag. I used to train there. A lot of English people, lots of Australians, we used to train together. There used to be combination fights, we call it kumite, that's hand-to-hand combat, and contact fights and things like that. Lots of time I used to lose a lot of battles with them; they were experts. And the Thais were there . . .
So the Thais are very good at this . . .Akshay: They are very good at Thai boxing. They are excellent. The kind of conditioning they go through is practical. I'd say Thai boxing is very practical in life.
I read somewhere that you had a poster of Sridevi in that dhaba or restaurant.Akshay: I must say you've done your homework. Yes, I did have a poster of Sridevi. At that time there was that movie Tohfa, with Jeetendraji and Sridevi. I forget that song now. She was my hot favourite. We used to start work looking at her, and before sleeping we used to look at her. I never thought I'd work with her. So when I saw her for the first time after I started working (in movies), it was like a flashback from my life coming (alive) in front of me.
Did she look as pretty as the poster?Akshay: Oh yes, much prettier than in the poster. In fact I meet her sometimes at the Marriot gym, when she works out there. Whenever I see her, that's the thing that comes to my mind.
And you've told her about the poster in the dhaba?Akshay: No, I haven't. But she's going to watch your programme and know about it. You've revealed the secret.
You were brought up around eating places and food -- Old Delhi, which is all about food, chana bathura, chaat, jalebi, ghantewala mithai . . .Akshay: There are still places (in Old Delhi) where it's written, 'Nakli ghee sabit karney waley koh Rs 1,001 inaam.' But after coming to this line, it's been five years since I left all that stuff. You can't eat it because you have to, as they say, maintain yourself. Still, when I go there, I make sure that for those five days I enjoy myself, go back to my roots, eat all the stuff, whatever I used to eat.
Then you detox. Who do you have in Old Delhi now, and where?Akshay: My naani lives in Chandni Chowk and refuses to come here. We tried telling her to come here, saying we'll all stay together in Bombay, but she doesn't want to come here. She hates Bombay and she wants to be there in Chandni Chowk.
Tell us a bit about your early days in Chandni Chowk.Akshay: I have great memories. We were 24-25 people staying together in a joint family, all my mamas, mamis, my dad's family. We used to stay together in a small house, not bigger than this bus. People used to say, 'You must be so uncomfortable.' But I think those were my most comfortable days. Not only was I with all of them, but we used to know each other so well. The whole idea was togetherness, and I think the best time of my life was when we were all together.
Tell us about how the break came. In terms of the jubilees, you're like Rajendra Kumar. In terms of personality, you are like Dharmendra.Akshay: Well, I take everything you say as a compliment. I just do films without thinking about the numbers game, not thinking about what they say. I just keep doing my work, that's all.
I'm surprised you say 'games'. Earlier, all your films had names with khiladi in them. How did that happen?Akshay: Well, that's only on screen, nothing else.
It was just a tashan (style)?Akshay: Yes, it was. And it worked.
How did that start?Akshay: It all started when I met Abbas-Mustan and Mr Ratan Jain, the producer of "Khiladi". They told me about this script and they really wanted me to do it. I really liked the script they were talking about. It was a new thing to watch myself on the big screen. And a very big thing, because none of my forefathers had come from this line. For my Mom, Dad, and sister, when I came on screen, it was the biggest thing.
How did the Khiladi mystique start?Akshay: The first "Khiladi" was a hit, so Ratan Jain came up with the idea of "Main Anari, Tu Khiladi", and even that worked. Then Mr Keshu Ramsay took over and he started with "Sabse Bada Khiladi" and that worked. "Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi", that also worked. It's only later that we did one more Khiladi and then stopped. I wanted to get rid of the whole action image.
Now you don't need the Khiladi prop. Now you're a funny guy more than . . .Akshay: No, not a funny guy, Shekhar. I'd say that now I do everything. I'm going back to action. Next year, I'm starting India's biggest action movie. It's called "Chandni Chowk to China". It's going to be like an autobiography -- in a very humorous way, but with lots of action. It's about a guy who started as a cook, goes to China to learn martial arts, and what happens . . .
Tell me a few humorous aspects of your life. We know about your time in a Thai dhaba, and accepting pecks on the cheek for tips.Akshay: I wouldn't remember anything like that off-hand . . .
Does comedy come naturally to you? Or have you had to teach yourself? Are you a funny guy in normal life?Akshay: I'd like to thank Priyadarshan, Raj Kumar Santoshi, and writer Neeraj Vohra. These three guys helped me a lot in trying to tap . . . (humour).
But in normal life are you a funny guy? Do you play pranks on people?Akshay: My friends find me funny. But my wife doesn't find me funny at all. She doesn't think I'm funny at all. So I am a little confused.
And your son?Akshay: My son enjoys my company. He likes to watch my movies. But when it comes to Tom & Jerry, he prefers that more.
Oh, he'll grow up. It would be troublesome if you were watching Tom & Jerry.Akshay: Oh, I love Tom & Jerry. I have grown up watching Tom & Jerry, and that's where I got a lot of ideas for doing action. I think I have learnt a lot from Tom & Jerry. It's surprising, but a lot of my earlier action was copied from Tom & Jerry.
Such as what?Akshay: If you watch "Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi", there were two stunts copied from there.
Can you describe some of them?Akshay: In "Sabse Bada Khiladi", there's a scene in which I'm hanging from a helicopter and then I swoop down and pick up Mohnish Behl off the ground. This is what I saw when Tom puts on wings and comes down and picks up Jerry and he wants to eat him. The eating part I missed out; that I didn't do. So I used to imagine the whole thing and make and adapt the cartoon figures for real life and try and do it.
That's interesting.Akshay: Yes, I've copied a lot of stuff from there.
Can you give us another example?Akshay: In a film called "Khiladi 420", I'm on top of a plane. I could never have imagined somebody could do that, you know, standing on top of a flying plane. I don't know, Shekhar, have you seen that stunt?
No, I haven't.Akshay:
But it was for real.Akshay: It's for real. Really. I've done it. I have footage of it.
Was Tom & Jerry the inspiration for that?Akshay: Absolutely.
How did you pick this up from Tom & Jerry?Akshay: Same thing again. He was standing on top of a plane because Jerry had skates and he wanted to catch Jerry. That's how the whole thing happened. I copied that whole thing.
I hope Tom & Jerry doesn't come up with any more dangerous stunt now.Akshay: I hope they don't charge me for copyright, that's all.
They'll pay you for endorsement. You spend a lot of time with your son?Akshay: Yes.
You have his name tattooed on your back, I read somewhere.Akshay: I have. That was on impulse, really. I was shooting for Hey Baby in Australia. I was missing my son a lot because he was in school and couldn't come there. It had been about 25 days, I was missing him, and I saw a tattoo place. So I just decided that I have to go there. That was a very fatherly impulse. So I went and got it done.
What does he think about it? Does he appreciate it? Or does he think, 'My dad is nuts'?Akshay: Well, he was very excited. When I came back to Bombay, I went to drop him at school and he literally made me remove my shirt so he could show all his friends, 'See, my Dad has my name written on his back.' It was the biggest high for him. It was the biggest high for me, too, to show it to his friends. Yes, he was very excited about it.
Tell me something, you come from a very ordinary background, just like any of us, and then, (you achieved) not just big stardom but you are also wedded into stardom. You are married to Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia's daughter (Twinkle), who herself was a star in her own right. I think that's the greatest star cast for parents-in-law that anyone has ever had. I mean, except for Aishwarya . . .Akshay: Shekhar, when I came here to Bombay, when I started teaching martial arts . . . I'm very lucky to have them as my parents-in-law. I must tell you that when I came here and I wanted to get into movies, I used to struggle at my father-in-law's office. I used to go with my photographs and things like that. At that time he was making a movie, but he had already signed somebody else, and he had promised me he would make another movie for me. I never in my life imagined I would marry his daughter.
Tell me some of your earlier memories of Rajesh Khanna?Akshay: Well, that's the biggest memory I remember. He was very nice to me, very kind to me. I still remember I was very hungry at that time and he had offered me food as well.
You were hungry as in hungry for food, not for work?Akshay: No, no, hungry for food. I mean I was very hungry for work also. I remember eating at his office. I'll never forget that. And when I got married, I would go to his office and I would remember each and every thing. All my memories came back. And I reminded him because he wouldn't remember. I told him I used to come here and struggled here and that at that time I had a moustache. Then I reminded him, and he said, 'Yes.' And he remembered everything after that.
Tell me a little bit about Dimple Kapadia and Rajesh Khanna.Akshay: Well, I'm very close to my mother-in-law. We practically meet every second day because she lives very close to our house in Juhu. Once a month we all get together, even my father-in-law, and we talk, we sit together, we eat our food together. But because of my busy schedule I have not been able to . . .
Do you pull your mother-in-law's leg sometimes?Akshay: No, I can't dare to do that.
Are you scared of her.Akshay: Yes, I'm scared. I'm scared of my wife too.
That's okay, but mom-in-law?Akshay: I'm scared.
Have you seen her movies? Have you seen Bobby?Akshay: Oh yes, I have seen all of them. Yes, I think I have seen all of them.
Do you pull her leg about Bobby?Akshay: No, I have never done that. Too much respect and all that.
Well, what's she like? Tell us a little bit about her.Akshay: Well, she is a great lady, she is a diva, she is beautiful, she is amazing, and she is a great naani to my son. My son is very fond of her and she is everything to my wife, to us, and she is one of the greatest ladies I have ever come across.
And something about Rajesh Khanna.Akshay: Whenever we meet, we call each other buddies. I have a more friendly relationship with him than with my mother-in-law. It's a very friendly kind of relationship and in fact we are having a huge party just next month. We are looking forward to it.
I'm sorry to drag you into this but I can't help it. Do you have any view on how Rajesh Khanna just faded away? You know, he is somebody who, like Amitabh Bacchhan, could have remained a star forever. What happened?Akshay: Well, I don't know what happened. But I do know that nobody could be as big a star as he was.
Once he had an eye-infection and young women all over the country were buying eye-drops and pouring them on the posters.Akshay: Well, I have also heard so many stories about him. I have heard that the moment his white car would come out of the compound, it would become pink because all the girls would make it pink with their lipstick. There are amazingly crazy stories about people cutting their wrists, writing letters with their blood. That's real stardom.
And then he became a recluse?Akshay: I don't know. I have no idea about how it happened, why it happened. I have never gone into it, never spoken about it. Maybe he didn't want to work anymore. I don't know.
I remember the last time I heard from him. He called me when your wife was making her debut. He called me and said, 'Shekharji, can you imagine that my daughter and Dharmendra's son are making their debut together? So can your paper do something special on it?' And I thought, 'Here's a man who comes out of his refuge because he is concerned about his daughter.' It was very touching. Since then, unless you run into him somewhere, you don't hear from him. For someone who has been a star, been in politics, it's very surprising how withdrawn he is.Akshay: I think he is a great person. I have interacted with him and have really enjoyed sitting down and talking to him. But we never speak about films or anything and he has never spoken to me about . . .
Does he enjoy loneliness?Akshay: I don't think he's lonely. He has his people around with him. He enjoys the company of his friends. I don't think he is lonely.
And is he content?Akshay: Yes, he is very content and happy. I have never seen him complaining about anything.
Akshay, you are a man of many talents -- from cooking to serving to martial arts to jumping off planes to fantastic comedy. You're also a singer. You've cut a CD of shabad kirtan, I believe, Gurbani.Akshay: Well, I did that because I felt like doing it. Because it was one thing that was always on my mind. When I used to stay in Chandni Chowk, my grandmother used to take me to the gurdwara. I used to go there to eat kada (prasad). That was the biggest high for me. One particular song they used to play there, Nirgun . . . , remained in my head. So I decided to do this. I just sang one song on that CD and the rest have been sung by Sukhbir's father. They helped me make and compose the song. With their help I could do the whole thing. T-Series helped me out. We made a lot of money and we've given it all to charity. That's how I decided to do it, not that I decided to make it my profession.
From fighting to humour to spirituality -- you are obviously a multi-faceted actor. I believe there will be more twists in your career as you go along.Akshay: Hope it's in the right way.
Absolutely. And we'll see if your talent sort of flowers in more and more areas.Akshay: Thank you very much. I hope everything works out, because I am trying my level best and it's very hard to sustain yourself in this line because there are so many talents, so many new comers. To maintain your own status is the hardest job.
Yes, and to be Akshay Kumar is the toughest thing after stardom, isn't it?Akshay: I don't know about that.
Thank you very much, Akshay.
