Actor Akshay Kumar is embracing the praise coming his way for his latest releases Kesari Chapter 2 and Sky Force. Though Skyforce didn’t set the box office on fire, Kesari Chapter 2 numbers continue to grow strong. Meanwhile, the actor has received critical acclaim for both.

In a recent interaction, he reflected on the role audience feedback plays in his career. “Audience hi maalik hai because they pay for the whole thing. When they clap for me, then it’s a motivation and when they criticize, I get to learn as well,” he said in an interview posted on the YouTube channel of Zee India Music.

The 57-year-old further said that he always wants to “evolve his work”, be it script choices or role selection: “If I get genuine feedback, I never ignore it. It has happened several times when people have said, ‘Kuch alag karo.’ So, I tried doing different movies as well. Criticism hurts sometimes, but if it comes from the heart, then it only makes you better.”

Beyond his relationship with audience feedback, Akshay also opened up on his fears about his future in the industry. “Besides falling from a helicopter, my biggest fear is that when I wake up one day and there are no messages. Uss din mujhe lagega ki meri baari khatam hogayi. I am not needed now,” he shared.

The actor also said that he doesn’t want to “rest and make my life smaller”: “This is the reason why I don’t want to stop. I want to keep on working... Main tab araam karunga jab iss duniya mein nahin rahunga. In simple words, I’ll keep on working till they have to shoot me down,” he said.