Akshay Kumar with Kareena Kapoor in Kambakkht Ishq

Kambakkht Ishq is being looked upon as the saviour of Bollywood 2009. Is that fair?

First the recession and then the strike between multiplexes and producers... the Indian film industry has lost a lot of money in the last few months. I am sure the industry must have suffered a loss of Rs 300 crore to Rs 350 crore. To be honest, I was expecting even more. The only thing is that these three-four big films will be releasing one after the other. I hope all the films work. We worked very hard on Kambakkht Ishq. I hope it works. Aur kya bol sakta hoon?

The other big films haven’t been getting the kind of hype Kambakkht Ishq is enjoying...

I don’t know what kind of hype the film has been getting back in India. I have been here in the US for the last 20-25 days. Maybe it is because the film has Sylvester Stallone, maybe because the film has Brandon Routh, maybe because of Denise Richards. To be honest it is just a romantic comedy. There’s nothing that big about it. It’s been made with a proper budget. The whole film was made at Rs 45 crore. Maybe the look must have worked... aise hi hype pakad liya hoga. Mujhe nahin pata hai yaar!

You sound so chilled out. The producers, distributors, plexes are all banking on you to deliver. And you don’t feel the pressure?

Nothing has pressurised me more than this question of yours! Jitna tu bolte ja raha hai, mujhe aur pressure feel ho raha hai! You are pressurising me more and more! Tu mera blood pressure high kara dega (laughs out loud)!

Akshay with Sylvester Stallone

Achha, let’s talk about your experience working in the film. Sylvester Stallone must have been a dream come true...

Well, Sly is a very genuine man. Basically, I don’t speak much. I am a reserved kind of a guy. But with him I got along really well. It’s like when two action heroes talk, people think that they would be exchanging tips on fitness and health. But nothing like that happened. We ended up discussing our injuries. He talked about his knee problem and I was discussing my back problem with him. Then he spoke about Thailand because he had shot a couple of his Rambo films there. I was also telling him how I was connected to Thailand (Akshay was a waiter there before coming to Bollywood).

These were the common things we had and we spoke about that. I also told him about a few of my film adventures (smiles). I told him how lucky he was because safety in stunts didn’t exist in our country till a few years back. And he listened to everything very patiently. In short, Sly went way beyond my expectation and more.

Akshay with Brandon Routh

What about Brandon Routh?

I have something to tell you about him. Brandon Routh is someone for whom my respect went up so so much while shooting for the film. He was not only very sweet and humble, he was so grateful for being asked to be a part of our movie. There’s one line Brandon has in the film, which I know from my personal experience, a lot of heroes would have refused to say. You know, for their image. But Brandon agreed and I really admire him for that. And especially after playing Superman, he didn’t need to do such a small role in an Indian film. But that’s where integrity comes in. He just wanted to be a part of Kambakkht Ishq.

Akshay with Denise Richards

Denise Richards says you are a great kisser. What was your experience with her?

Well, Denise is a very beautiful and confident actress. We really had a great time making the film. She has a very important role in the film. It’s like she completes the love triangle of Kareena, herself and me. She has fitted the role to the T and she has played the role very well.

Having shot Kambakkht Ishq in and around Hollywood for so many days, how do you think they now look at us, at our film industry?

I love how fascinating they find Bollywood and India. I was talking to Denise and she couldn’t believe how big Bollywood is not only in India but also in Hollywood. I told her there will be more people watching her in this film than any movie she has ever featured in. And that’s purely on the basis of the number of Indians in the world and how much they love our films. Denise was quite shocked actually.

But in the end, for most of us, Kambakkht Ishq is an Akshay-Kareena film. You first worked with Kareena in Talaash (2003). How do you think she has evolved as an actress?

What I admire most about her is how fast and well she jumps into her character. It’s not easy that one minute you are fooling around on the sets and the director calls “Action” and you have to pull out the hat instantly. She definitely is a producer’s actress. Kareena was perfect for the role because she has a great attitude on camera. We needed a woman who could break a man’s heart one minute and also be able to break a man’s jaw with one kick. Her character is very powerful, yet essentially loveable. Believe me, she will reach another level in her career with this movie. I am sure she will do well in other films also but in Kambakkht Ishq she has really done very well. Maybe, with this movie, we are the Mr & Mrs Smith of India.

You have a great track record with producer Sajid Nadiadwala. What does he bring on board?

Well we have a great understanding. And that’s because we are friends from school. I have done five films with him, out of which four have done well. That’s a great record to have. He always believes in making larger-than-life films and builds up the hype around his films and as you rightly said, it’s going to create more pressure for me now.

But do you feel you need to do something different now that the magic run of Hera Pheri, Welcome, Heyy Babyy, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Singh is Kinng is on the decline?

See, I tried doing 8X10 Tasveer. It was absolutely a different genre and a different me. But people didn’t appreciate it as much as I thought it should have been. But nevertheless I am still going to keep trying and failures like Chandni Chowk to China and 8X10 will not stop me from trying something new. Blue, my next film, is a different genre. It’s an out-and-out action film. (Priyadarshan’s) De Dana Dan (opposite Katrina Kaif), I wouldn’t lie to you, is not experimental for me and I have done similar films before. But then (Vipul Shah’s) Action Replay (opposite Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) is a totally new kind of film. I am trying my level best to do different kinds of films but at the same time stay in touch with commercial cinema. I don’t want to go away from commercial cinema because I presume people like me and I want to make them laugh, do action for them, do romance for them.