Akshaye refuses to cancel shoot

Akshaye Khanna may be known to be moody but when it comes to work, he's one of the most professional actors around.

When he hurt his ankle while playing tennis on Monday, in stead of cancelling his shoot he flew down to Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu en route to Pollachi (also in Tamil Nadu) for the shooting for Priyadarshan's tentatively titled film Nishaad, which also stars Ajay Devgn, Bipasha Basu and Paresh Rawal.



Akshaye tries to play down the incident and says, "It was nothing major -- just an ankle sprain. There was no way I could cancel the shoot. The whole unit was waiting for me. I am better now than when I came. The pain is much less."

Producer Kumar Mangat says, "Akshaye hurt his ankle badly while playing tennis and was taken to Breach Candy Hospital. The doctor advised him complete rest for a few days but Akshaye ignored his doctor's warning and decided to come to Pollachi for the shoot. Akshaye understood it was a big combination shoot and that we had got permission to shoot at the dam in Pollachi for only three days. If he had cancelled, I would suffer major losses."

Akshaye landed at Mumbai airport on Tuesday night, went aboard his plane in a wheelchair and was taken to the shoot in a wheelchair to avoid pressure on his ankle as much as possible. Mangat says, "Hats off to Akshaye. He was in great pain but he shot on Wednesday till 5 pm and then drove down from Pollachi back to Karaikudi in five hours. He had to keep taking painkillers. Akshaye is a big star and could've cancelled his shoot. Smaller actors throw tantrums and cancel shoots but he knows it's an expensive film. We will shoot several action scenes in the next 20 days."

Kumar Mangat adds that he has a doctor on call from the local dispensary in case of any injuries on the sets. "There's always an ambulance and doctor on the set and fire control units."