Akshay Kumar: Been four decades since a film on brother-sister bond

Subjects are his “driving force”, and among them, “socially relevant films” push him more

Subjects are his “driving force”, and among them, “socially relevant films” push him more. As we catch up with actor Akshay Kumar a day before the release of Raksha Bandhan, he says, “I can easily make a Rowdy Rathore 2 or Singh is Kinng 2 and make triple the amount of money, but these are social awareness films, and I like making such films because they can make a difference. I was discussing with my director (Aanand L Rai) that after watching our film, even if just 10 people can make a decision to not take or offer dowry, then I consider it my success.”

Akshay Kumar on his visit to Lucknow (Deepak Gupta/HT)

Talking further about the movie, Kumar says, “It has the very basic emotion of bhai-behen, jo sabke ghar par chalta hai, but people don’t often think about it. We make films on all emotions and relationships, but it has been over four decades since we made a film on the brother-sister bond. Tapasya (1976) was probably the last film on this.”

Kumar surely shares a close bond with his sibling, Alka Bhatia. And fans saw him get incredibly emotional as he received a message from her while he was promoting his movie on a reality show. The 54-year-old says, “I rarely get emotional during a show. But when I saw the video where my sister spoke, I got carried away. We say men are strong and take care of their sisters, but I’ve seen sisters are stronger and take care of brothers more.”

Akshay Kumar and Aanand L Rai with the cast (Deepika Khanna, Sadia Khateeb, Sahejmeen Kaur and Smrithi Srikanth) of the movie in Lucknow. (Deepak Gupta/HT)

Various videos and pictures from the crew’s promotional tour also caught everyone’s attention, and Kumar was seen treating his on-screen sisters with lots of goodies wherever they travelled. “During a game of ludo, I asked them what they wanted, and they said [that I] treat them wherever we go. So, with ghewar in Jaipur, chikankari stuff and kebabs in Lucknow, something from Indore and jewellery from somewhere, I have been fulfilling my promise.”

But, he also shared how tough these tours can be when he wrote on Instagram: ‘Filmmaking is a cakewalk, par promotions bache ki jaan le lete hain’. He explains, “Morning in Kolkata, the day in Lucknow and night in Delhi, it’s not easy. But, it’s (promotions) very necessary for the industry and the economy, as we want people to come to theatres.”

Terming the movie as his career’s best, he shares, “It made me realise how such a simple subject can be amazing.”

On competition with movies from the South, Kumar asserts, “At the end of the day, it’s good films that matter. Some films from South did very well while many failed. Similarly, some of our films did well and many failed. What it means is that everyone needs to work hard!”