Actor Akshay Kumar on movies and criticism...
Ashwini Deshmukh (HINDUSTAN TIMES; February 23, 2020)

You’ve just given your 11th consecutive hit. Certain sections of your audiences still question you though...
I don’t know about that. I just know that I’ve signed my next four films. Having a job matters. Your company is running. That matters. I have another three films lined-up, which I have to give a go ahead to. (Smiles) So according to me, I’m doing pretty well.

Your films are critic-proof. No matter what, they rake in the numbers…
I respect critics. It’s important to have critics for an honest feedback. Also, comedy is subjective. What you like, the other person may not. My kind of humour is different from that of my wife’s (Twinkle Khanna). Opinions vary. Similarly, one critic’s take may vary from that of the other. Especially, when it comes to comedy.

What was Twinkle’s reaction to Housefull 4?
She didn’t watch it.

Why was there so much negativity around the film?
Those who’ve written the negative stuff would be able to tell why. Main toh unke ghar gaya nahi kabhi. People can say what they want. People can keep talking. It doesn’t matter. What matters are the box-office figures. They alone talk.

A character in Housefull 4 faking pregnancy says, main abla hoon tabla nahin. This was dissed by some sections…
Yes, you’re right. It may not have gone down well. The writer has to take care of such things. I may not be around when some scenes are shot. So I may not know about them.

How difficult is it to pull off a comedy?
It’s difficult to pull off humour when you have to rely solely on physical comedy and keep logic away. Only Charlie Chaplin could do that.

Without dialogue, he could make people laugh. Or even Laurel And Hardy. We’ve grown up watching them. An actor can churn out dialogue and make people laugh. But to make people laugh without words is the toughest.

Do you feel comedy as a genre has been ignored?
I’ve been trying to find the answer to this since the last 30 years. I still don’t have one. Everyone believes comedy’s easy. Ask anyone in Hollywood and they will tell you comedy is the most difficult genre.

Your transformation from action films to the comedy genre… was it a planned process?
It’s not some thought out method. I just go with the flow. I didn’t go to any acting school. I just add what I’ve gained through my own experiences. I tend to hold the director’s hand because he knows the film a thousand times better than me. He leads me and that’s why he’s called the captain of the ship. You can only pray that that ship doesn’t turn out to be a Titanic.

Are you always confident of the choices you make as an actor?
No, I’m not confident ya. My team knows how scared I am before a release. You work hard for months. You have to consider whether the audience/critics will like your film. Gharwalon ka alag tension hota hai... whether they’ll like it or not. You’ve got to handle the PR stress, the studio’s tension...

Which have been your path-defining movies?
Sangharsh (Tanuja Chandra, 2000), Jaanwar (Suneel Darshan, 1999) and Hera Pheri (Priyadarshan, 2000). Priyadarshan saab, Rajkumar Santoshi ji (Khakee, 2004) the late Neeraj Vora (Phir Hera Pheri, 2006) are three people who contributed greatly in making me realise that I could attempt different genres, and mould myself as an actor.