“Slapping Sonakshi was the hardest thing to do,” confesses Akhsay Kumar

From scouting properties to peering at a dinosaur egg somewhere in between, the whirlwind two-day itinerary to the emirate served up many more nuggets for the Bollywood quartet that briefly boarded the promotional train that should have ideally been called ‘Once Upon a Time in Dubai Again’.

For veteran star Akshay Kumar, who confessed his keenness to join in the ranks of Shah Rukh Khan and the Bachchans by investing in a property on these shores, one can only hope the homely comforts would make his media responses more pliable, bearing less of a resemble to that of man given marching orders into the dentist’s chair.

Having said that, one cannot question the camaraderie the actor shared with fellow co-stars, Sonakshi Sinha and Imran Khan, which shone through during the promotional blitzkrieg of ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Dobaara’; Balaji Motion Pictures Tsarina, Ekta Kapoor, comfortably squared off the foursome.

With just a three-year film career to her name, Sinha can already boast two cinematic outings with the actor, along with busting a dance move for the Kumar-backed production, ‘Oh My God!’. 
 
Speaking to Emirates 24|7, the trio readily jumped on to the mutual admiration society, with Kumar referring to the much younger Khan as striking “fear” in his heart with “the level of honesty that shone in his eyes while approaching a scene in the film.”

The earnest Khan in question simply turned red-faced with the compliment, while Sinha admitted to being spoilt by her two co-stars in this threesome set-up.

As a cricket match on the telly caught most of Kumar’s attention in the plush Oberoi Hotel suite where all of us hunkered down for a chat, it was but natural to fire questions at the actor to bring him back into the zone that brought him to the emirate in the first place.

“Have you already said that needs to be said about your film to the press?” was this reporter’s response.

Kumar replied: “Trust me, after travelling for well over a month on a promotional tour, there is nothing that we haven’t spoken about or droned on about our film to the media, to the fans and to anyone who will listen.”

Asking the star to humour this member of fourth estate a little further, which was the toughest scene he had to enact for the film?

Giving him pause for a minute, Kumar glanced over at the ever-smiling Sinha to say: “Slapping Sonakshi was the hardest thing I had to do.”

“You slapped her?”

In response, Sinha simply picked up Kumar’s arm to show off his clenched fist, saying: “While he was scared to slap me, I was petrified that this heavy hand would make contact with my cheek and I would go flying across the room. Do you have any idea how him much his arm alone weighs?”

The scene in question is a gripping moment in ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Dobaraa’, confessed the actors, with a slap having ironically never been written in the script.

Said Kumar: “I am threatening Sonakshi’s character as she admits she loves another and it only seemed apt that I wielded my power by slapping her across the face.”

But the young actress was quick to quell any reservations, saying: “He was a gentleman about the whole incident, never once making actual contact with my face. His cue was perfect, giving me the exact moment to drop my head in motion without ever feeling the weight of that hand on me.”

Khan, who was watching the interplay, laughed and said: “If it had, you know what the headlines would have stated.”

The trio is convinced the film will do well at the box office, possibly even jump aboard the 100-crore or Rs1 billion box office train, which appears to be the benchmark for a successful film in Bollywood these days.

“And why not?” quizzed Kumar. “Have you ever seen a film in Hollywood or Bollywood that narrates the love story of a gangster? No. We have created a whole new genre with this one. It simply does not compare.”

Uh, director Anurag Basu may beg to differ with his 2006 crime thriller ‘Gangster’, which, ironically, captures a gangster’s love story.

But who are we to question.

‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Dobaara’ is currently playing in UAE cinemas, and takes off from the 2010 sequel of the same name, with Mafioso Shoaib (Kumar) now spreading his empire to the Middle East, while vying for his newest love interest, Yasmin (Sinha), while she pines for another, played by Khan.

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