Akshay Kumar shows who’s boss

When Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar sauntered into the adjoining living room of his suite at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Dubai last week, it was clear he’d had a rough night. Wearing a black t-shirt, tracksuit and flip-flops, he had a five o’clock shadow, dark circles and his attire made you wonder if he was going to break into a sprint any minute. He didn’t.

“I like partying once in a while. But not everyday,” said Kumar.

The night before the 46-year-old star had made a guest appearance at local club Studio F to promote his new film, the action thriller Boss, out on Tuesday in the UAE for Eid.

“When you do so much dancing in a shooting studio, sometimes you don’t feel like actually dancing when it’s time to dance.”

But he’s no wallflower at a party. The self-made billionaire, who has thrived in Bollywood for over two decades (23 years, he tells us), loves the rush of adrenaline and makes it a point to squeeze in family vacations every now and then.

“I just got back from the Maldives. It was my birthday and I spent around four days at an ocean front villa with my family. Every three months, I take a vacation. In my contract I have a clause that says I don’t work on Sundays written in bold letters. I rarely break that rule,” said Kumar, who’s married to actress Twinkle Khanna.

But the son-in-law of the late superstar Rajesh Khanna had to make an exception recently to accommodate the UAE press junket to promote Boss in which he plays a gangster from the Indian state Harayana.

The day before our chat, Kumar had injected some drama into the Dubai leg of promotions in a yacht by zooming in on a jet ski. He had one complaint though: it wasn’t fast enough.

“I love speed and I do my own stunts in a film because I enjoy pushing myself. After 23 years, I am still excited about going to work every day.”

Kumar’s story is the stuff of fairytales. Born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia, he worked as a chef in Bangkok and did odd jobs in Mumbai before stumbling into modeling and acting. Trained in martial arts, stunts came easy to him.

“Even today I have that insane greed [in] me. I am greedy about doing good work, the excitement is far from dead. And I never take my success for granted. Even today I am excited about flying first class and I always feel a sense of regret if it’s a short distance flight. I just love the service, food, eating and just looking out into the sky. I even enjoy sleeping – it’s that same feeling that you get when you own your first Ferrari,” said Kumar. His name always features in India’s highest celebrity taxpayer list, which is a clear indication of the robust, lucrative work he does.

“Even if I get my Sundays off, I manage to finish three or films in a year,” said Kumar. It’s an impressive number but it also means that he’s the king of commercial ‘masala’ entertainers. By default, masala films are crowd pleasers that are high on emotions, drama, romance and action. The heroes in such movies are not complicated human beings and rarely call for serious acting skills.

“Boss is a commercial film that will bring numbers to the table. I don’t want to use the word ‘different’. Just remember to come into the theatres to have fun. It has a bit of everything. I enjoyed speaking Haryanvi because it’s such a lat maar [slang] language. The way you speak is so laid back and tough. It’s a language that you can associate with a boss. Bosses want you to work and they enjoy watching you do all the hard stuff.”

Speaking from experience, are we?

“Hey you should ask that question to Zenobia? Zenobia: do I boss you around?,” said Kumar calling out to his manager.

“She’s been with me for over nine years, so that should be an answer? But am I bad boss Zenobia? Come on, speak up.” goaded Kumar. He was refusing to let that one go until she responded.

“No he doesn’t boss me around. Do you want me out or something,” joked Zenobia, who has been a constant in Kumar’s life.

It was clear from their camaraderie that Kumar isn’t a tough one to deal with. His trainer Jen and Zenobia were chatting discreetly in the room as the interview progressed. It’s clear he is a popular figure in their lives.

“I like it when my staff work hard because I work hard too. But I never disturb them during their off days. So they work hard and party hard too.”

Ask him about the worst boss that he has encountered, he claims all his producers were taxing.

“They want you to work hard and I get that. I am a producer and I work like crazy. Sometimes, my producers make me work for 14 to 16 hours. But it’s easy to understand them because we are all working towards a common goal: to make a fantastic film.”

For Boss, he has re-united with director Antony D’Souza of 2009 underwater action adventure Blue. Touted as Bollywood’s most expensive film at that time, it was a disaster akin to the sinking of the colossal ship Titanic.

“It doesn’t matter if his first film didn’t work. Everybody needs a second chance. Antony is technically sound and is very hard working. He has a deep knowledge about films.”

While it was heartening to see Kumar defend the director of Boss, he claims he is currently scouting for scripts that revolve around vampires.

“Indian cinema is heading towards different kinds of films. I would never imagine that somebody would ever make a film about zombies in Bollywood. It was incredible to watch Go Goa Gone and I had called Saif [Ali Khan, its actor and producer] immediately. Things are going to keep changing. I love the idea of vampires sucking blood. So don’t be surprised if I play a vampire soon.”

QUOTE UNQUOTE

“You get me the permission to dangle from the Burj Khalifa and I will be there,” Kumar when asked if he would dare to do a stunt like Tom Cruise’s act in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

“You all have the best roads and the best infrastructure. In Mumbai, we don’t even have proper roads. I even made a movie Khatta Meeta about the bad roads. We have everything back home but the only thing that is bad are the roads. The infrastructure is very bad,” said Kumar on his decision to buy a mansion in Dubai. The hunt is still on.

“My father-in-law is my most favourite actor and my wife is my sounding board and my boss. No, I don’t hate my boss,” Kumar on idols and support systems in his life.

*Boss is out in cinemas on Tuesday for Eid.