Akshay Kumar firmly believes that certain associations, like his combination with producer Bhushan Kumar, work wonderfully. These two have given three hits together - Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Baby and Airlift. Needless to say, both men are on cloud nine.

Graciously accepting congratulations to the overwhelming response Bhushan, their other partners and he got for Airlift, the actor says, “Bhushan and I work well together. He takes care of the music and I take care of the rest.“ He hums the song Hare Krishna Hare Ram from Bhool Bhulaiyaa with the music honcho setting the mood for their banter.

Says Bhushan, “For Baby, songs were not an integral part of the narrative and I understood that. However, I wanted to be associated with the film because it was a fabulous script. It also had Akshay and Neeraj Pandey associated with it.“

For Airlift, the two struck a balance. “Once again, songs were not important to this film,“ says Akshay, adding, “Yet Bhushan found a couple of soundtracks like Soch na sake and Tu bhoola jise that fit in and were completely unobtrusive to the narrative. Both songs are hits and I salute Bhushan for that.“

The Bollywood superstar continues, “When Bhushan is expressing his happiness over something, he is genuine. I remember what he said around the time of Baby. He said, Akshay sir, Baby may have done a 'box office business of Rs 90 cr. However, it got me the respectability of a Rs 200 cr project.' Likewise with Airlift, I could feel a sense of pride in his voice when he called to tell me the response to the film from across the world.“

Bhushan says, “By now, Akshay sir and I have earned each other's trust. I'm hoping to take our association forward with many more projects.“ Flashing his infectious smile, Akki adds, “Even after 26 years in the industry, these are the words I want to hear. If my producers are happy, then I'm happy. After all, my forefathers do not belong to cinema. Somewhere deep within me is an insecurity on whether I will find work or not. When a producer smiles and reassures me that he wants to work with me again, it makes me extremely proud. It means I am doing something right. Frankly, that's all I have wanted.“