Stardust Interview

LACK OF AMBITION IS THE KILLER OF TALENT. AND EVERY TIME YOU THINK OF AKSHAYE KHANNA, YOU THINK OF A HUGELY GIFTED ACTOR WHO REMAINS LAIDBACK AND UNDERUTILISED. NOT THAT HE’S NOT LEFT AN INDELIBLE MARK IN EVERY FILM HE’S DONE, BUT SOMEHOW YOU TEND TO EXPECT THAT MUCH MORE OUT OF MR. KHANNA. EVEN ON THE PERSONAL FRONT, HIS IMPISH SMILE, HIS BROODY LOOKS AND INTENSE GAZE MIGHT MYSTIFY MANY WOMEN, BUT HE REFUSES TO BE THE PIN-UP BOY OF MYRIAD FANTASIES, NEITHER WILL HE STAND BEING BRACKETED AS THE THINKING WOMAN’S SEX SYMBOL.

HIS DEMEANOUR AND THE GUARDED AURA AROUND HIM SEND OUT CLEAR, ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ SIGNALS, AND YOU WOULD LET IT STAY THAT WAY. SOME MYSTERIES ARE BEST LEFT UNRESOLVED. AND THEN COME THE SURPRISES. LIKE FINDING AKSHAYE KHANNA IN AN EXPANSIVE MOOD, DISPLAYING HIS COQUETTISH BUT APPEALING HUMOUR, HIS CHEEKY SELF-PEEKING THROUGH THE MEAN EXTERIOR. AS WE CATCH UP WITH HIM ON THE SETS OF ABBAS-MUSTAN’S ‘RACE’, WE FIND AKSHAYE KHANNA IN THE FAST GEAR AND OPENING UP IN THIS FREEWHEELING CHAT.

SD: Suddenly this year it’s raining films for you. First it’s ‘Naqaab’ and then ‘Race’. What happened? Akshaye Khanna decided to go full throttle?
AK: It happens na. It happens with every actor. Sometimes you have two, sometime you have four films.
SD: Did you ever consciously decide to do one film at a time, as it seems to be the trend today?
AK: Never, not at all. Yes, everybody prefers to work that way, even I do, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
SD: But two films back to back with Abbas-Mustan just happened to happen?
AK: Naqaab’ just happened. It was not going to be my film, it was somebody else’s commitment, which didn’t work out, and they had this script ready. I was free, Bobby was free, so it happened. I love working with Abbas-Mustan, so I am happy.
SD: Are you settling into this thriller genre of ‘36 China Town’, which is entertaining? There is an odd Priyadarshan film but predominantly this one.
AK: I like suspense films. I like watching them; I like being part of them. I don’t understand what you mean by settling in though.
SD: When you did ‘Salaam-E-Ishq’, with a whole bunch of actors did you insist on having your role spelt out to finer details?
AK: It was done very finely, without me having to ask for it. If you are doing a film like that with so many people, it’s important to know what you are going to do in that film. Not only when there is an ensemble of cast, even though if it’s just you it’s important that you know what you are doing in a film. Nikhil was very clear about that. And he gave everybody what they wanted.
SD: Everyone was talking about how doing that film would antagonise Karan Johar because of his fallout with Nikhil Advani. Did you feel like you were standing by the right then by fulfilling your commitment to the film?
AK: I don’t think so. Karan is too big for that now. I don’t think he is so petty. I don’t know him personally at all. I hardly interact with him in professional or personal life. But from whatever I know about him and whatever I have heard, I don’t think he is that petty to think that way.
SD: But there were many who backed out of that film for that reason.
AK: I don’t know about it. May be I could be wrong. Firstly, I don’t think Karan would be like that and secondly I wasn’t working with him anyway to be thinking about how he would react. I don’t live my life thinking about what will happen and what ill will happen.
SD: In that film you played a commitment phobic man. Do you identify with him as a person?
AK: I don’t know the different degrees of being commitment phobic but that character would be an extreme case. Yes I do see myself that way; more often than not.
SD: It’s been thirteen years in the industry and you still haven’t been in a long term relationship…
AK: Absolutely, I am a bachelor. One has to meet the right person to be interested in a long-term relationship. I haven’t met that person.
SD: Or maybe when you have, you have guarded it very closely for anyone to know.
AK: Honestly, when I hear people getting caught, not only people in the industry but society generally, I really think they are dumb to get caught. It’s a stupid thing to allow it to happen. For say a husband getting caught by his wife or even a wife getting caught by her husband cheating on him. I mean how could you be caught? I mean why will you be so stupid? It’s so easy to be discreet. It’s common sense for me and why other people don’t get it, I don’t know. Probably they want to be caught. There are a lot of people who want to be spoken about, written about. And that makes perfect sense if you are in the business where if you are talked about more it works better for you. That never interested me at all.
SD: Coming to think of it, you are also an eligible bachelor but the tag has never been stuck on to you?
AK: Who cares?
SD: Don’t you like being called the ‘Most Eligible Bachelor in town’?
AK: No, not at all. I do have my life and so does anybody who is called an eligible bachelor. Someone calling me an eligible bachelor does not make me an eligible bachelor or doesn’t make me happy or give me a high. It does nothing to me. Them calling me eligible does not make me eligible and them calling me not eligible does not make me non-eligible. And that is the fact, is it not?
SD: You have been a non-conformist right form the onset. You steer clear of socialising with film people, you are so fiercely defensive about your space, and you prefer to live in your South Mumbai environment even though it takes hours to drive down to where all the studios are.
AK: So why does that trouble you?
SD: You are obstinate about wanting to lead your life in a particular way and are not very compromising in whatever you do.
AK: But why would living in town be considered being non-conformist? My dad has lived in town, all his life since he has been an actor. Suneil Shetty lives in town I don’t see you calling him a non-conformist. Shammi Kapoor has lived in town all his life; I think he has been around here for many years.
SD: Tara Sharma is heading for matrimony. Do you think that the countdown for your walk down the aisle has begun too?
AK: I am too young to think about that, at least in my head. Maybe some people think differently. I am not ready for marriage; I am not looking to be married. I am thoroughly enjoying being a bachelor. I am not quite sure if I ever will. I am not quite in sync with the concept of that.
SD: But don’t you want to discover if you are cut out for it or not?
AK: I think that every person wants to know if he is cut out for it or not, but you realise that only after you get married.
SD: But you don’t even want to take that chance?
AK: No, I don’t want to take any chance. Tomorrow I might get married but now I don’t see myself getting married, at least not in the near future.
SD; You are rarely seen in romantic films these days. Aren’t any such projects coming your way or have you grown tired of them?
AK: I would love to do a romantic film. It’s definitely the toughest and especially in today’s time when audiences are so discerning. I can’t find a bright interesting love story and I think to find an original and interesting love story and then to write and direct it, it’s very difficult. I feel that a love story has to be really good for it to work. Even if you look at the kind of films that the industry is making now, there is no pure love story. I can’t even remember the last one. Maybe ‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna’ or ‘Tara Rum Pum Pum’ you can categorise as a love story but not really since it is not the main part of it. It’s got nothing to do with me, I would love to do a love story. But I think fewer are being written and fewer are being made because of the quality of the writing.
SD; ‘Qurbani’ was your father’s super duper hit film. So when its remake was announced, it sounded natural that you would reprise his role today. But they went to Saif for that role. Would you have done the remake of ‘Qurbani’?
AK: I would have never done it. Not that I was approached for it. I think it certainly loses its own touch when you try to update it or do it better. I completely respect whoever is making it. But as an actor it wouldn’t interest me to try something that has already been done well. In my mind it would be suicidal. I don’t have any problems with anybody being approached for the role. I might have, if it was something I would have liked to do. But it never crossed my mind that I should have been.
SD: You were a very solid part of Farhan Akhtar’s camp but surprisingly in ‘Lakshya’ or ‘Don’ he didn’t think of casting you.
AK: Farhan and I never discussed any other film post ‘Dil Chahta Hai’
SD: It was a good teamwork in ‘Dil Chahta Hai’. Farhan was one of the directors who used your talent to the fullest. Tomorrow if you feel like, would you go and approach him saying that you wouldn’t mind doing another film with him?
AK: He knows I have worked with him at the drop of the hat. He is a very intelligent person. If ever he has a role for me he will come to me, there is no problem. We are friends, so whenever he has something he will approach me.
SD: After ‘Humraaz’, ‘Naqaab’ has Bobby and you together for the second time and Abbas-Mustan are the directors again. After the gap of so many years, you think a lot has changed?
AK: I think we have matured a bit, learnt a bit. I think working with the same people helps because there is a certain understanding of each other’s needs. It was great fun doing ‘Humraaz’ with Bobby, Amisha and Abbas-Mustan and it was great fun doing ‘Naqaab’.
SD: Does the chemistry get better when you work the second time together?
AK: Ya, I think so. Especially between the director and the actor. And also between co-stars and actors. The comfort level is higher and you have a good understanding of each other. Everybody has a rhythm, everybody has a style. It is more a question of being organised. To understand somebody and to be comfortable with them is an important part of teamwork. Also if you enjoy working with somebody, you may like the person and it might show in the end result with the film. That’s why you see so many people doing multiple films with each other.
SD: And there is a new girl, Urvashi Sharma, in ‘Naqaab’.
AK: Oh the new girl is really very good! She has got a role any newcomer would do anything for. She has really been given a chance to show what she is as an actress. She is not like a showpiece, just standing by or just sitting around. She has really got a lot of meat to her role. Also she has Abbas-Mustan who are really good with the actors. I think she has done really well, she is a nice girl and I enjoyed working with her.
SD: When you did ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ with Saif, he wasn’t a big star. And you two had got along well. Have things changed now?
AK: I think the only thing that has changed is that he has become a big star. Much bigger than he was at that time.
SD: But that film was the beginning of his success.
AK: Ya, it was. I think it’s really great and I feel happy for him since he is someone who hasn’t been given his due for a long time and hasn’t been given the right roles. But he is still the same person, someone whom you could sit with for five hours and not get bored. I don’t know anybody who has got more stories than Saif. He constantly tries to make you laugh. I personally find him funny and great company. He is very intelligent and witty and he is a real gentleman. We had a blast during ‘Dil Chahta Hai’.
SD: There was a talk of this film under your home production to star your father, Rahul and you. What’s happening with that? Or haven’t you been approached for the film from your own banner?
AK: I haven’t even heard of such a film, let alone acting in it. I think it is important in my understanding that you make a film because you have got a good story to tell not because you want to cast some people in the film. For me it holds no interest as an audience unless it’s a really good film and all three of us suit the parts.
SD: Your father had once said that each one of us needs a spiritual anchor. Do you feel the same and need one too?
AK: I don’t follow any religion. My father was born a Hindu. I have my own take on things. Though I don’t follow any religion, I definitely believe in God. But I don’t worship. I have my own philosophy in life. Unless your parents inculcate those kinds of things in you, you are more than likely to grow up with your own beliefs.
SD: Why does one see you doing so many endorsements of late?
AK: I have done couple of endorsements and I want to do more. I suppose I was commercially bad for a long time.
SD: You are doing Anil Kapoor’s ‘Gandhi’. How is it like to do a film with another actor as a producer?
AK: Anil Kapoor is the best person I have worked with. He wasn’t acting in the film but he is the most incredible producerI have ever worked with. I am doing another film with him starting from June. He is a very mature person. I think production thing runs in his family.