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‘To make people laugh at your own expense is one of the hardest kind of comedies,’ says Akshay Kumar defending the slapstick comedies

Akshay Kumar has become one of the most versatile actors of Bollywood today. The actor effortlessly belts out a drama, a comedy, an actioner, a sports film and a patriotic one with ease. For an actor who is well-known as Khiladi Kumar and was once typecast as an action hero, he has successfully broken the mould today. Today, at a media conclave he spoke about his career choices, his method of acting and the advice he received as a young actor.

During the summit Akshay was asked about which genre of films he feels most comfortable in, he said, “I don't want to be stereotyped. If I say I feel comfortable in one genre, you will put a tag on me. I don’t want any kind of tag. I’ve come out of that game of tags when I used to do only action, I was bored. I never wanted the tag of an action hero. Even now I don’t want any tags. I’m very comfortable playing all kinds of genres. If anything new comes in, if it’s risky and fun, then I’d just go for it.”

Akshay Kumar in Housefull 4 

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When asked about his comedy films that are labeled as ‘slapstick comedy’ he defended his choice of films and said, “I am happy that I get to visit different branches of comedy. Housefull was a slapstick comedy, no matter what people say, that it’s senseless, but there is an audience for that also. Slapstick comedy is the most difficult kind of comedy. To make people laugh at your own expense is one the hardest kind of comedies. Unfortunately, people here don’t give credit to this kind of comedy, even in the awards night. Slapstick is also a genre, it’s a huge genre. Charlie Chaplin used to do it. He excelled at physical comedy which is exceptionally difficult. Good Newwz is a situational comedy, it is brilliant. I’ve done about 140 films in my career; Good Newwz is one of my best films.”

Talking about playing a transgender in Laxmmi Bomb, he said, “I feel extremely lucky to have got this character. I am proud to play a transgender.” He also spoke about his way of acting and doing multiple films in a year. On his mode of acting, Akshay said, “I’m not the kind of actor who can seclude himself inside a hotel room for 2 months. It takes me a day to find my character. It’s just acting. What are you stressing about?” He also spoke against films having a long shooting schedule and said, “Why are people shooting a film for 200 days? I don’t understand it... Mission Impossible was shot in 55 days. What have we done to justify 200 days?”

Akshay was also asked about a piece of advice that he adheres to that he received as a young actor. To this, he said, “Always pay for your mobile bills. Always pay for your alcohol.”

(Source: Hindustan Times Leadership Summit)

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