Says Akshay Kumar about returning to the action genre as he speaks about his upcoming film Kesari and more with Shikha Jain
For Akshay Kumar, playing Havildar Ishar Singh is a dream role and he feels one doesn’t get a chance to play such a courageous role in their lifetime so easily. Being a part of an industry that has ups and downs, the actor says he keeps himself motivated by the kind of cinema he does. Excerpts from the interview…
What fascinated you about this historical subject – Battle of Saragarhi and what was the biggest challenge for you as an actor?
Twenty one sardars facing 10,000 invaders and they are fighting…now who will not get fascinated by the story, which is so strong and real. Even if you Google and write biggest five battles fought, number two is Saragarhi and we have not even made one single film on it. Not many people know about it either. It is unbelievable that these people had the chance to run away and forget about their country, but they didn’t do it even though they knew they were going to die.
Imagine fighting a battle in which you know you are going to die. So, I consider myself very lucky that I got this film. And getting an opportunity to do such a big film is very special to me and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I have dedicated this film to all martyrs of all the countries of the world who have given their lives to save their country.
Was this role difficult for you?
Yes, the kind of terrain we shot at was very difficult like I shot in Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh where there is barely any oxygen. After every shot if there was a retake then you had to take a 10-minute break to catch up on the breath. And the turban that I have worn was around 1-1.5 kg, the sword I held weighed around 6-7 kg, but in reality they were fighting with 20-25 kg swords. And it could happen only because they would eat pure home made ghee then and now people consume real steroids.
What was the necessity to shoot in the same location?
Spiti is not the same location but we wanted a place, which would match 1897 where there are hills covered with snow that are located at a distance and in between the terrain was the same as Spiti’s. Hence, this was the only place that completely matched Saragarhi.
Besides action films, you have done other genres too. But it looks like stunts give you a high as you keep coming back to it.
Yes, it is true that the stunts give me a real high, but as they say ‘bandar kitna bhi buddha hojaye lekin kala bazi se baaz nahi aata.’ So, that goes with me also and no matter how many other things I try, at the end I just come back to the stunts.
As an actor how difficult is it to keep reinventing yourself?
It is not difficult. It is fun. If I’m changing my image it is because I’m enjoying it and not because it is difficult or I have to prove something. I don’t have to prove anything to anybody; I just have to enjoy myself. It is great to do different characters all the time and it is fun because you can say I have been scarred. When I started my career I was only doing action films and nobody would give me any other role.
So one fine day when I got Hera Pheri, it just broke the barrier and hence I was offered other roles as well. I would never forget the days when I used to stand in the lift and look at myself in the mirror and feel disgusted because I would know that director would say that all you had to do was stunts, kicks and fight… so I would feel that I had no other talent than this. And then I have been getting the chance to keep on changing my image for the last 12 years now. So it’s not a tough thing.
You have done all sort of action, but how different was fighting a battle in Kesari?
Here we had to portray 1897 and follow the Sikh fighting style of Gatka. So we had to show that, hence I had to learn a few techniques and it was a different kind of fight where you don’t worry about your wounds, but how to kill your opponent–this was the best part for me in the film. And this film is about two days.
The first day is about when I come here from Gulistan and I meet these 21 sardars and the next morning the attack happens and by the evening we are all dead. So this whole genre of fight was very new for me. It is very close to martial arts and I have a background in that so I had to make very little effort to learn a few tricks and forms.
