Akshay Kumar takes on newer challenges

This year started on a different note with Nikhil Advani’s Patiala House,which earned the star good reviews for his performance but didn’t live up to trade expectations leading to speculations of the Kumar entertainer prowess being on the wane. Such talk,of course,is common each time a superstar’s success ratio does not measure up to inflated expectations that the media and trade pundits create around them.

Kumar is no stranger to swings of fortune. He has persevered his way into the superstar category as an action hero with his Khiladi series and then the very successful Hera Pheri and a string of comedies with Priyadarshan. Hera Pheri in many ways proved to be a gamechanger for the action hero marking a transition into comic capers.

After a very successful comic turn,Kumar,when not busy jet-setting between shoots,is looking to get back to other genres like family dramas and action films. Patiala House was an effort in that direction. In a candid conversation with Screen,the star sums up the changing scenario and strategy.

Your performance in Patiala House has got a thumbs-up from the critics. What do you have to say about it?
It’s good that critics have praised my performance. Especially with me,it is a rarity so I am very happy (laughs). Thank you critics.

Were you disappointed with the fact that the film didn’t open too well in the theaters?
Patiala House is a very small-budget film and it was publicised like that. These emotional kind of films grow slowly helped by word-of-mouth. And I expected the same for Patiala House. Whatever its fate,I am glad I did the film because this is the kind of film that is a must-watch for every son. The father-son relation,at the core of this film is one that I find fascinating because such a relationship is always a quiet one whereas a mother-son equation is a vocal one. I shared a great relationship with my father,which I miss very much.

You have been working very hard with four films a year so will 2011 see you slow down?
That’s the plan,yes. I am going to cut down my work a lot.

After a very successful run with comedies,do you think it’s time to give other genres a chance yet again?
I have done many emotional dramas and action films before the hugely-successful comedies,but it’s never too late to change gear,so yes,it’s time to switch over. Perhaps I was thinking in a very different way earlier but now I am going to change that and not be stuck to one genre.

I am diversifying to different kinds of movies like Patiala House,and the sequel to Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai. Then there is Namastey London 2,again a very emotional film based on a husband-wife relationship,an action film by Prabhudeva (for Sanjay Leela Bhansali),Joker ( in 3D) and one of my kind— Housefull 2.

What’s your opinion of the buzz on high content,low-budget films with or without stars?
High-content,low-budget films are good,but the trouble is that very few succeed. Last year too,only four or five of 160 films succeeded. It is very difficult to recover the money,even if they have a modest budget of say,4-5 crore.

Having said that,I loved some of those films like Udaan,which I thought was very well-directed.

Did you enjoy Peepli [Live,one of the most talked-about small films last year that was also India’s entry for the Oscar Awards?
Business-wise,Peepli [Live did better than Dhobi Ghat,though I enjoyed Dhobi Ghat more. Kiran did a great job. But then these films have a limited audience so it’s very difficult to decide whether to be a part of it or not. We have to do films that get great reviews and at the same time also boast of great collections. It’s a rare combination,but if it happens it is a great achievement.

Aamir Khan has been pretty successful with the smaller experimental movies,so there must be some merit to them.
Aamir has made a good name for himself and he can do it,but it’s not an easy job for everyone. He can experiment— and he has all the right to do it— because he is a name by himself.

Do you think that Hindi films are hamstrung by budget constraints in the choice of genres,say action films,animation or fantasy films for that matter?
Not entirely. Blue was an expensive film and I was surprised that a producer was willing to produce it. Among other things,piracy is a huge roadblock to recovering monies on big-budget films. If piracy is cut down,we can make films with bigger budgets. Piracy is actually killing the film industry. Do you know piracy results in a loss of Rs 150-200 crore to the industry? What the producer or distributor earns,the film pirates earn twice that amount. Okay,I think that’s the producer in me talking (laughs).

Is it tough being a producer along with playing a star?
Being a producer is not tough at all. I outsource production work. My remuneration for films that I produce is decided according to the profits. I may earn only 20 or 30 per cent of what I charge outside. It’s an actor’s price that escalates the budget so when an actor’s remuneration is zero,you don’t have to worry about it.

Does that change your status as the industry’s highest-billed star?
Well,having turned producer,currently only my own money is riding on me.

News is that you will be hosting Khatroein Ke Khiladi yet again on Colors…do you enjoy television shows?
I enjoyed the show but I am not allowed to say anything outside that. And yes,I like television shows because one doesn’t have to remember lines!

priyanka.sinha@expressindia.com