You need to take risks: Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar, possibly India’s finest action hero, decided to tickle the nation’s funny bone in the year 2007. He spoke to Subha Shetty-Saha.

He couldn’t have had a humbler beginning. As a waiter at a restaurant in Bangkok, Rajeev Bhatia could have remained a part of the woodwork and no one would have missed him.

However, the Akshay Kumar in him wasn’t quite ready to take that as his destiny. Many thought he didn’t have anything to declare — apart from his good looks and great body — which a million others strutted.

He was shrugged off as a non-actor. “I was not only called a wooden actor, but an entire carpenter’s shop!” Akshay says with a smile. Surprisingly, he agreed with his critics.

And in the ultimate analysis, it was this acceptance of his limitations and the urge to win over them with sincerity and hard work that changed his life forever.

Groping his way around Bollywood, he hung on to the one thing he knew he was a master at — martial arts. He dived, jumped and kicked and before long created a definite niche for himself.

With the same determination, he sure-footedly took one ladder at a time in Bollywood, making sure he never missed a step. Finally, the Khiladi had arrived.

“After a point, you need to take risks, otherwise things can only get static for you. There is a lot of fun in taking risks. I know I can fall badly if I continue taking risks but at this juncture, I think I can afford to risk it.”

It was a chance encounter with comedy that made him the uncrowned king of the genre, but Akshay insists comedy is what he fears the most.

“When you are watching a serious movie with the audience you don’t know what they are feeling, so you are safe. But if you crack a joke on screen and they don’t laugh, it can be heartbreaking.” But for now, he can rest easy — the applause is coming thick and fast.