Mumbai: Akshay Kumar said his 33-year career has been all about working hard and the Bollywood star aims to break his dry spell at the box office by continuing to do exactly that.
Most of his last releases, including 2024’s line-up ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’, ‘Sarfira’ and ‘Khel Khel Mein’, didn’t do well at the ticket window. ‘Stree 2’ and ‘Singham Again’, which featured the actor in a special appearance, were exceptions.
Akshay, who will next be seen playing an Indian Air Force officer in the upcoming film ‘Sky Force’, has witnessed a slump many times in his career. “It’s not that it has happened for the first time. The best part is you keep on working hard. That is what I tell myself. If anyone talks to me about it, I say the same thing that you have to keep working hard,” he told reporters at the trailer launch of ‘Sky Force’.
Akshay said many people advise him to do ‘one film or maximum of two films’ in a year. “But I say if I can work, then why not? I have based my entire career on that. Many people have told me not to do content-based films, but I don’t want to leave that. I want to keep working on different kinds of films,” he added.
The actor is proud of ‘Sarfira’, the Hindi adaptation of the superhit Tamil film ‘Soorarai Pottru’ (2020) starring Suriya, even though it didn’t work. “I still say that ‘Sarfira’ was one of my best films.”
According to the makers, ‘Sky Force’ is the untold story of India's first and deadliest airstrike ever. It will be released in theatres on January 24 during the Republic Day weekend. The film revolves around IAF officer T Vijaya (Veer Pahariya) who goes missing in action during the 1965 India-Pakistan War. Akshay plays his fellow IAF officer KO Ahuja who embarks on a mission to find Vijaya.
Akshay said that ‘Sky Force’ needed a new face like Veer. “This film required him and he got the part and that’s the most important thing. We have to be true to the film. If the film requires somebody new, why not? I love the screenplay and that’s why I took part in it. It’s not about what my role is or whether my role is bigger than him or not. It isn’t like that, but the film is good,” he said.