Akshay Kumar unlikely to do action after 5 years, says 'The End' could be his last brush with stunts

You’re the first Bollywood A-lister to make a digital splash. Is that the future?

I’ve never shied away from my age; I’m 51. The reason I signed up for a high-on-action digital show with Amazon Prime is because I feel I can do this kind of action for five more years. As far as this genre goes, this could be my last innings. I’m trying my best. What you saw at the launch of my show, tentatively titled The End, is my attempt to be with the youngsters; I love their energy, I’m impressed with the kind of things they do. I felt the need to match that. Or at least give it my all. So, I decided that this is what I should try.

You said your son, Aarav, influenced you to step into the online space.

Yes, Aarav has been constantly telling me, “Dad, you have to go digital. I want to see you in a web series.” Our children are the future. They see the world in a different way. I can say they are our teachers.

Your wife, Twinkle Khanna, thinks differently. We saw her reprimand you on Twitter for setting yourself on fire without telling her.

Oh... come on, she was just joking.

The actor set himself on fire before walking on the stage at the event to announce the show

You were also heard saying that sometimes, you are afraid to jump off a stool. If that is the case, how do you prep to actually set yourself ablaze for a stunt?

Of course! There was this stuntman who was among the best in the field. He had jumped from an airplane and landed on an airbag. Now, that’s next to impossible because you require precise coordination to even think of that. You’ll be shocked to know how he died. Just masti masti mein, he was sliding on a motorcycle and while he was laughing, he didn’t realise when his head hit against a pole so hard that he died.

So, the learning from this is, if you have to jump from a stool or a sofa, you never know how slippery the surface below could be. If someone has swabbed the floor and it’s still wet, you may jump off a stool and find yourself in a rather bad accident. The point being, it’s not the big stunts which can get you. In fact, the more dangerous the stunt, the more careful everyone involved is.

The action team is taking all the necessary precautions and someone is also trying it a couple of times to ensure that all safety measures are in place. But the minor ones can be fatal because you tend to be frivolous about them.

Forget major or minor, but weren’t you afraid to set yourself on fire?

I was wearing a fire suit. The team made sure that I was protected from any untoward incident. I always state that whatever stunts we do should never be tried at home. They’re neither for children nor for grown-ups. The stunts are done under the supervision of the stunt directors, with rehearsals. We break glasses, jump from buildings and helicopters, but people shouldn’t even try that. With us, there are about 300 people looking after our security. There are cables, machines, etc. When I performed a stunt at the last annual police show, the team had done a few rehearsals to make sure that nothing went haywire.