Sunday, June 17, 2001		Interview

Akshay ban gaya gentleman
Sitesh Debnath

AKSHAY Kumar is a changed man today. In his close-cropped hair and designer suits, he has become more of a gentleman than the lover who pranced around trees and performed daredevil stunts to impress a girlfriend. He is a man of few words, measured in his speech and not too anxious to please.

Marriage has made the difference. Many attribute the change in sartorial tastes to the selection of clothes Twinkle Khanna makes for him. By his own admission, he has also become less impulsive, more responsible and not brash at all. After all, he has become a family man.

On screen too, the transformation is all very apparent. Gone are the khiladi days (which began with the super hit Main Khiladi Tu Anadi and ended with a damp squib, Khiladi 420) when he played the action hero to the hilt in film after film.

"I had been looking for a change of image," he confesses. "I do not want to play only action roles or just comedy or even romantic roles only. I want to have a mixed bag. Basically, after 11-12 years of doing the same thing again and again on screen, I thought I should do something different."

He says that when he heard of Suneel Darshan casting for Ek Rishta — A Bond of Love (incidentally, his next release), he visited the director several times and pleaded for the part of a young man who defies his industrialist father’s (Amitabh Bachchan’s) strong-arm methods.

"The role did not come to me," he narrates. I went asking for it as I saw the opportunity of being able to prove myself on a different level. Luckily, the film has turned out to be a very intense human drama. But then, when you are working with Amitabh Bachchan, your performance goes up several notches."

Akshay shares the lead with Bachchan in another film also — Vipul Shah’s All the Best. He describes it as a "comedy thriller where every character is painted a shade of grey". It has, however, nothing to do with the famous English play with a similar title, he hastens to add.

A third important Akshay Kumar-starrer, scheduled for release this year, is Abbas-Mastan’s Ajnabi. Based on a Hollywood film, Consenting Adults, it is about two men who agree to exchange their wives, with tragic consequences. Bobby Deol, Kareena Kapoor and Bipasha Basu play the key parts with him.

"By Indian standards, it is a very bold film, far ahead of its time", says Akshay. "But then, with the television and satellite boom, I think our audience should be ready for such subjects. Besides, there’s a message that runs through the film — never trust a stranger."

He points out that of late, the only romantic film he has signed ("for old time’s sake") is Dharmesh Darshan’s Haan Maine Pyar Kiya and that there’s not a single ‘action film’ left to complete. Much as he misses pulling off those daring stunts, he would rather stay away from such projects for the moment.

"Let me rework my priorities," he explains. "But I’ll definitely go back to stunts. That’s my forte. The thrill I experience when I am 20,000 feet high in the air and about to take a dive is something that still gives me a high... But I do not want to be called an action hero".

He insists that Twinkle does not interfere in the kind of roles he plays, but if a shoot involves personal risks, he would rather not tell her beforehand, lest she be unduly worried. "Some people cannot be convinced that there’s a risk in everything you do," he quips.

Then on a serious note he adds: "I have never done stunts to show off. I do them, becauseI enjoy them. Otherwise, what stops me from using a double like every other actor? There’s actually something within me that urges me to do the impossible. And so far, thank God, I have got away!".

(MF)