Bollywood star Akshay Kumar says he wants to take on diverse projects but there is a proviso attached -- the films he makes should cater to family audiences. Whether it is a psycho-thriller or a social drama, a genre that Kumar has tried his hand on aplenty, the actor said he wants his films to be watched without any hesitation.
"I want to try my hand at different types of content. I don't want to form any kind of image. But I ensure one thing that the films I do, they have to be family entertainers," Kumar told PTI in an interview. The 54-year-old actor said he would never want to be associated with "ghinoni" (filthy) films.
"I don't want to make a 'ghinoni' (filthy) film. Even if it is a psycho-thriller movie or a social drama, it should be viewed by families without any hesitancy. I believe in making films, keeping in mind its message and the commercial aspects, that will entertain the family audience," he added.
Kumar's upcoming release "Raksha Bandhan" is yet another family entertainer from the actor, joining his recent string of movies such as "Atrangi Re", "Sooryavanshi", "Bell Bottom", "Good Newwz" and "Mission Mangal".
He said "Raksha Bandhan" is a an important film for the "society and for our families". "It is about bonding between siblings," he added.
In the Aanand L Rai-directorial, Kumar stars as Raju, a sweetshop owner who is struggling to get his four younger sisters married. The movie features Sadia Khateeb, Sahejmeen Kaur, Deepika Khanna and Smrithi Srikanth in the role of Kumar's on-screen sisters. The actor dedicated the film to his sister, Alka, who serves as a co-producer.
"My sister is everything to me. We share a great bond. We, as a family, believe in just being happy. When we didn't have this kind of money and we used to live in Mumbai's Koliwada locality, we were still happy and had a lot of fun.
"We were very content with what we had in those days. On Saturdays, we used to avoid having our food because we liked watching movies in theatres. The atmosphere in our house was always lively and joyful."
"Raksha Bandhan" is Kumar's second project with Rai after 2021's "Atrangi Re", co-starring Sara Ali Khan and Dhanush. As a director and as a human being, Rai is all heart, the actor said.
"With him, everything is all heart... He's someone who will always smile and I have enjoyed my collaboration with him. I hope and pray that we have a long association," he added.
His film is set up for a box office clash with Aamir Khan's "Laal Singh Chaddha", a scenario which Kumar said is inevitable because of the coronavirus pandemic. "The box office clashes are going to happen and it is because of COVID-19. There are a lot of films that are already completed but they were not able to come out. Now you cannot avoid it. My hope is that both the movies do well at the box office," he said.
It is Kumar's hope that all the movies coming out of Bollywood do well at the ticket window as it is mutually beneficial for everyone. "It is not about 'Raksha Bandhan' only, it is about every film. I want each and every film from our industry to work. The film industry requires its films to run so that it can keep on making films, especially big films," he added.
"Raksha Bandhan", co-written by Himanshu Sharma and Kanika Dhillon, is a Colour Yellow Productions in association with Cape Of Good Films. It will be released in the theatres on August 11.
