King Kumar shakes up the Bollywood pecking order

Akshay Kumar is now Bollywood's reigning superhero, even though he doesn't fly faster than a plane or bounce off speeding bullets like your average caped crusader. But in some ways, Kumar's heroics are more notable than those of any fictional character. His last five films have raked in Rs2.66 billion (Dh232.75 million) at the global box-office and given a new lease of life to a flagging film industry.

And the buck doesn't stop there. After jumping on to the Indian Premier League cricket bandwagon, the actor took the Kumar brand to new heights with his TV show, Khatron Ke Khiladi (KKK), which opened to rave reviews earlier this month.

Yet, like any other champion, Kumar seems uncomfortable being called a saviour, especially of brand Bollywood. The Hindi film industry is currently in a slump, with only five hit films this year, from about 50-odd releases. "No one man can carry even his own movie, let alone an industry," Kumar tells Emirates Business. "In all honesty, I too was a part of one of those flops this year," he adds, referring to the box-office debacle of Tashan.

"Never in a million years will I say I'm worthy enough to pick Indian films up out of their slump, if that's what you call it. If every film was a superhit then no one would ever appreciate the best ones. It's not like a blue-chip company ready to sell its shares; this is a creative job and we try our best to entertain."

Like it or not, even Kumar can't deny that his iconic status and his box-office track record has positioned him as the highest-paid actor in India today. News reports have confirmed that for his next film, Blue, Kumar has been paid a whopping Rs220m, surpassing even superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and South India's Rajnikant in the salary stakes. This was followed up by a rumour that UTV Motion Pictures, India's largest production house, had coughed up Rs750m, along with a profit-sharing deal for the actor; this was denied by UTV insiders.

Quiz Kumar, and the actor doesn't spare much thought to such speculation: "Tags and labels exist for the moment... the right honours hold dear value. They may not come often, but when I do receive them, it's sincere and not because of my heavy wallet.

"Profit sharing, corporates and territories have existed for years in Bollywood; all I am trying to do is make it transparent."

With his new film Singh is Kinng (currently playing in UAE cinemas), Kumar has gone corporate, like contemporaries Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Ajay Devgan. He has launched his own film production house, Hari Om Entertainment and is one of the backers of the film. "My father and I always wanted to make films, but only when the time was right. For me, that right time is now. Though my father is not here to enjoy the ride with me, I have taken his good name to follow what once was our shared dream."

While Kumar plans to be selective in backing film projects under his banner, he is excited that new opportunities are opening up for Indian cinema. The actor, who is seen rapping with Snoop Dogg in Singh in Kinng and has spent the better part of last month shooting in Los Angeles with Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone for Kambhakt Ishq, says Indian films are now truly going global, "with the help of certain projects, scripts, extra effects and noted stars; if we can broaden our films across the world why shouldn't we, as long as it's in good taste..."

But far from taking tips from Hollywood, his 15 years in Bollywood have transformed this one-time chef from Bangkok into a household name. Having struggled to the top, Kumar confesses the industry and its workings have witnessed a dramatic change for the better – be it scripting, filmaking, or marketing. Kumar himself has never shied away from experimenting, becoming one of first actors to appear on a reality TV show – and shake a leg – to promote his film.

"There are so many ways to promote our films now. When a big movie is being released, why shouldn't we tell as many people as possible as many times as we can to watch our movies through various channels?

"Markets have changed and so have the tools to market our films. So much more is going into movies now, from expense to distribution; a film is a product at the end of the day and it needs selling in any way possible."

But it's these very promotional strategies that have come under fire lately, with critics pointing out that celebs will stop at nothing to generate publicity. In fact, Kumar found himself being victimised by certain members of the media who publicly challenged his role during this year's Indian Premier League for supporting the Delhi Daredevils cricket team. Ask Kumar if this was yet another celebrity marketing gimmick, and the actor turns defensive. "Why are you making it sound like it's a crime? Put it this way, the world was watching this 'gimmick'. Yes, it is a noble sport and its nobleness was spread all over the world to be appreciated.

"The man who created IPL [IPL Chairman Lalit Modi] put his life on the line to make this work and we should be patting him on the back, not slating a job very well done. The only people that can have a problem with IPL are the cricketers themselves, and believe me, they don't."

And while we wait for the next season of IPL, the current face of the soft drink Thumbs Up seems to have a found a new way to entertain himself these days – his television show. The actor, who is a martial arts expert himself, puts his skills to good use by hosting a show on dare devilry. "KKK was one of the easiest decisions to make – my kind of concept, my passion, my area. Big screen or small doesn't bother me – so long as I entertain, I'm happy. The show [airing on Colors] is doing incredibly well," he says.

"Television is a huge medium, so why shouldn't we be a part of it? We love to entertain and we are now bringing it into your living rooms. I'm sure if we were not wanted we would be the first to hear about it. Good television is all the public wants, it's a great trend and brings us closer to our fans. And when you achieve something as phenomenal as this, it makes all those crazy days worth it."

But Kumar seems to be playing down the fact that KKK is an embodiment of his adrenaline-junkie personality. Not one to shy away from performing his own stunts, the actor has put his life and limb on the line several times for his films, with most recently on the sets of the forthcoming Blue.

"Let's not blow this out of proportion; you make it sound like I'm an addict," he says. "I do my own stunts because my producers and my audience are paying to see me, not someone who looks like me to do my dirty work.

"But yes, I was injured while shooting for Blue in the Bahamas. It was like any other day of the shoot, diving down to 80ft and being surrounded by 40 hungry sharks.

"However, on the day I was kung-fuing a goon at that depth, and the force of the kick I gave him propelled me upwards, causing me to crack the open my head on the rusted roof of a shipwreck.

"The blood forced the stunt coordinator to lure the sharks as far away from me as possible so they could take me to the surface before I was eaten alive perhaps.

"I'd call it pretty serious. They don't call us heroes for nothing."


Bollywood's one-time bad boy

Akshay Kumar's name has been linked with a string of Bollywood beauties, providing enough gossip fodder to script a daily soap.

After tasting success with Khiladi (1992), his career took off and so did reports of a romance with co-star Ayesha Jhulka. But their on-screen pairing didn't stand strong in real-life. Jhulka's exit made way for one-time model Pooja Batra. Their tumultuous relationship resulted in several publicised brawls. Allegedly, fed-up of her behaviour, Kumar turned for comfort to actress Raveena Tandon. Their relationship resulted in a brief engagement; but things turned sour when news broke that Kumar was found cosying up with legendary star Rekha. The story was never confirmed, but Kumar was soon linked with stars Mahima Choudhary, followed by Shilpa Shetty.

In 2001, he married actress Twinkle Khanna, but the bliss would last only two years until actress Priyanka Chopra would enter their lives. The media had a field day reporting of several late-night meetings between Kumar and Chopra, but most of them were later proved false. Supposedly, fed up of the gutter press, Kumar stopped signing films with Chopra. But with her out of the picture, media found a torchbearer in Katrina Kaif. As new rumours filtered out, Kumar and his wife continued to maintain a stoic silence, that was until a newspaper in India reported their marriage had fallen apart. Fed-up of these new allegations, the couple slapped the publication with a legal notice last July.

When quizzed about the lawsuit, Kumar said: "We live in a fickle world where people don't want to hear good things about celebrities. In order to sell papers, they concoct stories that aren't remotely true. When they made up stories about me, they didn't care how that would make my wife feel, or what damage it could potentially do to our marriage. They just wanted to sell papers. But we are strong and we brushed it off, put our heads up and faced the world again, trying to forget what people may be thinking about us. We just pray our fans believe in us." (BR)