Akshay's tiebreaker with Sania

May 07, 2006

Akshay Kumar landed in Mumbai after a series of Heat shows in the UK and US.

We caught up with the actor while he was shooting for Firoz Nadiadwala’s Phir Hera Pheri, in Andheri.

He’s also just returned from a relaxing holiday with wife Twinkle and son Aarav, in USA.

But Akshay’s return was greeted with rumours of his budding dosti with tennis star, Sania Mirza…

There’s speculation that the Heat shows were thanda?

The shows went off excellently. The Heat kept up the heat in all of us. We had decided not to take any singers or comedians along, as the audience feels cheated in a two-and-a-half-hour show if they get to see only a few stars. So, for the first time, only we stars performed — Saif is an excellent guitarist, and entertained the audience well. I sang Punjabi, Hindi and Gujarati songs.

Any interesting experiences?
Something very amusing happened during the last leg of the tour, when we were performing in Wembley. I was singing and dancing, when suddenly, I noticed that someone was trying to pull my pants down from behind. Luckily, nothing happened and my pants stayed up! There were a lot of female fans there.

Let’s talk about the Sania Mirza rumours…

It’s utter nonsense! It sounds better than any comedy film — quite like a sequel to Garam Masala. I met Sania about five months ago, at Tarun Tahiliani’s charity fashion show in Mumbai, and that was it. I am a fan of her work, as she is of mine, and we exchanged hellos.

If I were devoting so much time to my so-called affairs, I wouldn’t have any time left for my films! Maybe I can give my producers a couple of hours in between to shoot their films?



Your wife, Tina, was with you on the tour?
Yes, Tina and Aarav were with me in USA. After the shows ended, we went on a holiday to Toronto and the Dominican Republic, and had a fantastic time. The Caribbean islands are the best.

Apart from swimming, they have lots of water sports, so I did plenty of water skiing and sailing. I couldn’t shop much, as I was there hardly for a couple of days, but I did buy a pair of grey and yellow sneakers.

What’s next on your film list?
There’s Sajid Nadiadwala’s Janeman, where I play a cool astronaut from NASA; Phir Hera Pheri, the sequel to Hera Pheri; and Welcome, a romantic film. I am planning to cut down on my films this year, as I want to give myself a lot more time.

What’s different about Phir Hera Pheri?
There is nothing different. It’s a sequel, which starts where Hera Pheri ends — at the point when Raju, Shyam and Baburao become rich. This is a film without expectations and we had fun doing it. There was no pressure on us. We knew the characters by heart and didn’t have to do any homework.

Are you planning to cut down on comic roles?
I don’t think about the flavour of the month while selecting my roles. When I was doing action, they called me the king of action; now they’re saying he’s the best in comedy.

People always expect the best from me. I take up roles according to what I feel is different and nice — like my role in Janeman; I loved it!