Akshay on not needing yes men, Ayushmann on what it takes to be a real man…

By Nichola

on December 27, 2017

The third installment of Rajeev Masand's series, The Actors Roundtable 2017, brought Rajkummar Rao, Akshay Kumar, Irrfan Khan, Varun Dhawan, and Ayushmann Khurrana, together to chat about their films and lessons learned this year.

Ayushmann made a valid point when he spoke about the need to break the decidedly masculine image of the Hindi film hero. “I had to be really confident and secure as a man to do that kind of role,” he admitted, adding, “Being a man isn’t about being good in bed, it’s about being chivalrous and putting the woman on a pedestal.” He sure wins our vote for that one!

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Rajkummar vouched that for him it’s not about successes and failures – “just doing a film like Newton is so much fun!” he maintained, adding that while his fan base has increased, he is happy in his own space, loves going home to spend time with girlfriend Patralekha or his friends and watches Netflix.

Varun Dhawan spoke like the true son of a filmmaker as he wondered why the Hindi film industry lagged so far behind the biggest hit of the year, Baahubali. “Why haven’t we been able to crack that scale? Why haven’t we been able to use technology and make 3D films?” he wondered.

Irrfan made some pertinent observations about the film audience. “The Hindi audience has matured. They are exposed to a lot of international content, that now they want diversity. The one thing that will never happen in India, is a film that makes the audience think… they don’t want to think! They want an emotional experience but in a different wrapping. Now they are forcing us to give them more, up our game.”

Akshay gave his own view about being part of the industry and yet keeping his distance. “There are so many myths that say you must attend all parties, but why? You don’t need to.” He also pointed out, “I’ve done 130 films so far, and I doubt anyone has seen me come with an entourage of yes men. You can survive without doing all of that.” He is living proof!