Bollywood’s khiladi Akshay Kumar was in the city to promote a brand he endorses, and was in a cheerful mood while interacting with the media. When the emcee addressed him as ‘Superstar Akshay Kumar’, the actor walked onto the stage, took the microphone and quickly clarified, “The lady here announced my name as Superstar. But there is only one Superstar in the country — and that is Rajinikanth sir!” amidst thunderous applause from the gathering.
The actor spoke about sharing the screen with Rajini in his debut Tamil movie 2.O, a sequel to Enthiran, his fitness secrets and more. “It is a honour working with Rajini sir in a straight Tamil movie — it is like a dream come true! I am very happy about it and eagerly awaiting the response of people here after its release. I want to be part of more south films,” Akshay added.
Reacting to a question about what is it like to be a celebrity, he promptly replies, “Being a celebrity? There are no cons, and anyone would love to be in my shoes.
There are only pros. Whichever profession you are in, if you take it up with passion, there will be only pros (laughs).” Sharing his fitness secret, Akshay says, “Happiness and good food are the secret of my fit body. I always insist on having dinner before sunset and not eating anything after that. You should work out for an hour daily — if you cannot give even one hour to your body in 24 hours, kill yourself!”
To a query about why women are not getting plum roles in the film industry, the actor took some time to respond — “It used to be like that earlier, but things are changing now. Bollywood stars like Kajol still get fantastic roles! We are seeing a lot of women-centric films emerging these days.”
The Singh is Bliing star also says that he has great memories of Chennai, “I have shot a few films here in the city including Sabse Bada Khiladi, and a film Meri Biwi Ka Jawaab Nahin with Sridevi madam, which released a long tim ago. There’s been a big gap since; but I’m happy I got the chance to shoot 2.O here.”
He reveals that he is such a huge fan of South Indian food, that he sometimes even lets go of his diet regime! “I love masala dosa, upma, coconut chutney and many south Indian dishes. My favourite rice dish is bisi bele bath (sambar rice made traditionally in Karnataka),” sums up the actor.
