Comedy is the toughest, never got its due: Akshay Kumar
New Delhi: Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar credited filmmakers Priyadarshan, Rajkumar Santoshi and late Neeraj Vora for making him understand comedy, the genre he thinks still hasn't got its due in the film industry.
Kumar attended the second day of the India Today Conclave held in New Delhi on Saturday, where he was asked about the filmmakers he has worked with in the last 30 years. The actor noted he has collaborated with over 70 directors and starred in 150 films.
“I have worked on around 150 films and I have worked with around 70 directors. But there is tuning with Priyadarshan; it’s fun to work with him. I have learnt a lot of comedy from him. Rajkumar Santoshi is also one of the directors from whom I have learnt a lot. There was another late director and writer, Neeraj Vora. These are the three people, if I got to know even the ‘C’ of comedy, it’s because of them," Kumar said.
The actor, who is reuniting with Priyadarshan for ‘Bhooth Bangla’, which is set to release on April 10, spoke in detail about the comedy and said it’s the toughest genre.
“Comedy can’t be taught; it comes from inside. You start getting to know about it. If I talk about the film industry, if there is any actor who does comedy, you will never have them getting the ‘Best Actor’ award. They don’t consider it. Whereas, if you ask the biggest actors, comedy is the toughest to do. To make someone laugh. When it comes to making someone cry, a situation can do that. You can have glycerin and cry, but comedy is the toughest and unfortunately, it never got its due. Never. I have never come across any award event where the actor who did the comedy in the entire film got the ‘Best Actor’ award,” he added.
Asked about the preference of the audience, the actor said the film industry is like a circle, but it’s challenging to know what the moviegoers will approve. Kumar gave examples of horror-comedy franchise ‘Stree’ and Aditya Dhar’s latest directorial ‘Dhurandhar’, featuring Ranveer Singh.
“The film industry is like a circle, after every three years, everything changes, the audience keeps on changing what they want, everything changes. Take, for example, ‘Dhurandhar’, an action film. It’s nice, people have enjoyed it and the hero is Ranveer Singh, who does action. Very angry young men kind of thing, whereas it wasn’t there in between. If I take six years before now, when I was doing social films, be it ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ and ‘Pad Man’, those will work. So, everything keeps on changing; there's a time of horror comedy now. People like the horror comedy, ‘Stree’. We don’t know what they will like next,” he said.
