Akshay Kumar dismisses ‘Modi bhakt’ tag, social media narratives that pit his and Shah Rukh Khan’s ideologies against each other

Actor Akshay Kumar said that he has made films set during the Congress era as well, but nobody points that out.

Akshay Kumar interviewed PM Narendra Modi in 2019.

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Actor Akshay Kumar spoke about ‘interviewing’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2019 general elections, and defended the idea as a no-brainer. “Anybody would’ve grabbed the opportunity had they been offered it,” he said in a new interview, denying accusations that he makes partisan cinema. He also dismissed social media narratives that put him on one side of the political aisle, and actors such as Shah Rukh Khan on the other. “The best thing to do is to laugh it off and move on,” he said.

In an interview with India Today, Akshay said that people ‘had a problem’ with the interview, during which he asked the PM if he likes mangoes. “I wanted to know the human side of him, I felt like asking him. I wanted to know why he wears a watch upside-down. I wanted to ask him how much money he has in the bank. I’m not going to ask him about policies.”

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Akshay claimed that he wasn’t given any directives by the Prime Minister’s Office about which questions are permitted. He said that he was given complete freedom, and asked rhetorically, “Do you think they would have allowed me to ask about mangoes?” He added, “I didn’t even have a paper in my hand. In fact, I even told him a joke.”

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In another interview with Times Now, Akshay was asked about the tag of ‘Modi bhakt’ that has been given to him by his detractors. Akshay said that he isn’t ‘into politics’, and that he has made films about different subjects. “It’s true. Some people accuse me of promoting Swachh Bharat through Toilet: Ek Prem Katha; I also made Padman. But nobody notices that I made Airlift, which was set during the Congress era. Even Mission Raniganj is set during the Congress era. But nobody is pointing that out. They only say these things when it’s convenient for their narrative.”

Mission Raniganj, which debuted in theatres on Friday, has made around Rs 15 crore in four days. Akshay admitted that the film hasn’t done as well as he would’ve liked, but said that it was never meant to be a commercial blockbuster in the first place.

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