PremiumR. Balki calls Akshay Kumar ‘a genre by himself’, as Samrat Prithviraj star completes 30 years in the industry
The duo had collaborated on Padman and Mission Mangal.
Last Updated: 02.47 PM, May 29, 2022
Throughout his career, Akshay Kumar has made a name for himself as a Bollywood stalwart. With his upcoming film Samrat Prithviraj, the actor completes three whole decades in the industry. To mark the milestone, filmmaker R. Balki, who has collaborated with Kumar in the films, Padman (2018) and Mission Mangal (2019), opened up about working with the actor.
In a statement, the director said “Akshay is a genre by himself”. Likening cinema to a ‘modern day sport’, the filmmaker talked about how the actor was the only person who actually played ‘cinema like a sport’. Like any sport, Balki believes that cinema requires talent, dedication, strategy, sharpness and knowledge to play it. Kumar treated cinema like a sport he loved to play, said Balki in his statement; a sport where the actor can be anyone he wants.
In Kumar’s films, such as the upcoming Samrat Prithviraj, the actor used strategies that reminded Balki of popular Indian sportsmen like Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni. The fact that Kumar looked at cinema through the lens of a new sport is what Balki loved most about the actor. Balki also talked about Kumar’s consistency and dedication to his craft, saying that Kumar has one of the most ‘lateral minds’ the filmmaker has ever seen. “He is to me possibly the only legendary sportsman in Bollywood of a very different kind,” added Balki.
Kumar will next be seen in Samrat Prithviraj, where he will share the screen with Manushi Chhillar, Sanjay Dutt and Sonu Sood. Directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi, the historical drama will be released in theatres on June 3, 2022, in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.