Some critics are asking why he made this film. Why not? Filmmaking is his business. He’s one of the country’s leading actors. And among the most popular, successful and saleable. He’s also a producer and makes entertaining films. Surely he knows what he’s doing.

Also, after 25 years in Bollywood, Akshay has done over 135 films, and he’s explored every genre from mushy romance and sensitive love to comedy, action, espionage, and patriotism, he’s acted in courtroom dramas, spun tales of valour in the battlefield and triumph in sporting arenas, and even tried his hand at horror. In a forthcoming film with the great Rajnikanth, he plays the baddie. Now Akshay’s doing social dramas. Not because he wants to challenge himself as an actor. But because he understands cinema is a good platform to create awareness about causes that society otherwise turns a blind eye to. Like open defecation. His theme in Toilet: Ek Prem Katha.

Our administration would like us to believe that Mumbai is 100% open defecation free. But that’s bullshit. You and I know this. When I met Akshay at his Juhu Beach residence to see the trailer of this film, I asked him about the government’s claim.

He took me to his verandah facing the sea and pointed out to squatters on the beach. The people who perform their toilet in public do it out of a sense of helplessness and frustration and even shame. They have no alternative. Only their elected representatives’ promise that toilets would be built in their slums and tap water provided before the next poll. Chasing these squatters away from the beach was not the solution. They would go to public gardens, the railway tracks, construction sites. Showing them how to build toilets, teaching them hygiene, was more important.

It’s a cause Akshay feels strongly about. And if he could get this message across through a Bollywood film using song and dance, a bit of comedy, full of romance, and considerable drama, why should he not? He’s an actor, after all. This is the medium he knows better than most. But it takes the courage of one’s convictions to step out of the comfort of familiarity and into unknown territory and attempt to come good. That Akshay Kumar has always had. That’s also why he’s known as the Khiladi. He’s the Master of his Game.