I used to be Mr Hot

In an industry as huge as Bollywood, maintaining the reputation of a being a good actor is anything but easy. And so for Akshay Kumar, whose 101st film, Garam Masala once again establishes his prowess as a great actor, it has been a long way.
Though he is tagged as Mr Hot in the film, he does seem to be warming up to the title in real life. “Garam Masala is about me five years back. I hardly had to prepare for my character in the film as I had a living experience of the same,” he says of his flirataious past. What now? “John says he has taken over,” he laughs.
After his fabulous performance in Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, he does a pretty good job at tickling the audience in Garam Masala. “I got pretty bored of doing all the action films and decided to take a break. Thanks to all the media persons who reminded every Friday that there was more to acting than just action,” he says.
But that definitely does not mean that there won’t be anymore stunts coming. “I have decided to do one action film every year. Besides, I think even comedy has its share of stunts. Doing stunts involves a great risk and so does doing comedy,” he says. “It is tough to make others laugh.”
“There is so much tension all around us today,” he says about the recent blast that shook the Capital. “There is no dearth of reasons to be upset, so when people step into the theatre I want to make them laugh, I want them to be entertained.”
He is also a believer in luck and admits that Paresh Rawal has been lucky for him. “I have given at least five hit films with him and I consider him lucky.” Besides Paresh Rawal? “John, definitely.” No wonder then, with his two lucky charms in the film Garam Masala is clearly the best bet among the other Diwali releases.

Published in Hindustan Times Next on November 9, 2005