Akshay Kumar flying high

He hasn't always had the best luck, but Bollywood's Khiladi is finally getting much-deserved acclaim for his acting chops in Airlift

He's done it. After a chequered career of over 25 years - and over 100 films - he is finally being applauded for his acting expertise, thanks to Airlift, loosely based on the incident of the real-life evacuation of Indians from Kuwait under attack from Saddam Hussein, circa 1990.
Although the film, directed by Raja Menon, wanders into the realm of fantasy, and doesn't stick strictly to fact, its lead actor Akshay Kumar does make a steely impact as a hardcore businessman who leads the rescue mission. The humanisation of the businessman (with traits of Oskar Schindler from Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List) is at the core of the script, which, for once, allows the actor to stray from his usual formulaic roles endured in flicks such as Rowdy Rathore and Singh is Kinng.
Once in a while, the 48-year-old Khiladi, as he has been nicknamed, has attempted for an image make-over, also exemplified by Neeraj Pandey's 2013 film Special 26, adapted from the true story of a daring jewellery heist in Mumbai. However, it's Airlift, which is now being justly rated as the action man's career-best. And that could be because the actor's glamour quotient has mercifully been kept in check, letting the heroism on display have a plausible edge.
Undoubtedly, over time, Akshay Kumar has established a palpable screen presence, be it in action flicks, comedies or an occasional love story (remember Dhadkan with Shilpa Shetty?). He has his plus points, particularly when it comes to breaking into martial art combat scenes and feigning a deadpan approach towards the funny business in romcoms, notably in the first edition of the Priyadarshan-helmed Hera Pheri.
If there's one key aspect of acting that he hasn't worked upon or improved, it's his dialogue delivery. The actor's voice tends to be low, unmodulated and inexpressive. Perhaps aware of this, director Raja Menon has turned the actor's weakness into an advantage by assigning him a speaking style that is low-key. In fact, whenever Kumar's character is shown to be upset or direly angry, he doesn't scream out loud. He opts to be natural rather than faux melodramatic.
Quite predictably, there were major creative differences between the director and Kumar during the shoot. Acc-ording to Menon, in an interview, the actor did sit in on the film's editing. On location, he often argued about how a scene was going to be enacted. After much debate and discussion, however, the star did fall in line. A wise move because usually any form of intervention by an actor infallibly leads to a fractured product.
Since Airlift has struck up cushy box office collections, besides garnering ?hosannas, hopefully Kumar will desist in the future from dictating his customary dos and don'ts at the edit table.
Indeed, the Akshay Kumar who made his debut in the scarcely-remembered Saugandh (1991) can be difficult to fathom. Like all actors, major or minor, he's insecure and sometimes paranoid. For sure, trust in his directors, colleag-ues and the media, hasn't been his strongest suit.
Perhaps that stems from the fact ?that he's had it rough. Among the rare A-listers who hasn't emerged from a film family - Kumar - like Shah Rukh Khan, has made it in show business as an 'outsider.' The Bollywood dreamer from Delhi's Chandni Chowk area initially struggled to make a living as a waiter and chef in Bangkok, then ass-isted still photographer Jayesh Sheth and was recommended for modelling assignments, eventually landing a film role by sheer chance.
When his portfolio was approved by director Pramod Chakravorty, word spread that he had what it takes to be a quintessential hero, and was praised by senior co-stars like Raakhee, who went on record to say that the newcomer possessed tremendous potential. Next, Abbas-Mustan's mystery thriller Khi-ladi affirmed that he had the looks and flexible body language required for the typical Hindi film hero.
Years later, in the course of interviewing Kumar at the shoot of the 2007 romantic drama Namastey London, I found an actor still rooted in the crowded alleys of Delhi, or the Paranthe Wali Gali. "I may live in a luxurious apartment and drive around sleek cars," he had stated. "But it is at my grandma's house in old Delhi, that I'm absolutely at ease. With her, I'm not Akshay Kumar but her laadla Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia, ?the name I was born with. She pampers me silly."
Evidently, here's an actor who has longed to be accepted and adored. Like many of his peers, he cannot accept criticism. The need to be acknowledged as an 'actor's actor' who's capable of winning awards, has consistently bugged him. The snag is that popularity and commercial viability don't necessarily ensure awards and critical app-lause. Post-Airlift, however, the scales may dramatically tilt in his favour.
His private life today has also stabilised since his marriage to former act-ress Twinkle Khanna; they recently celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary. A doting father to two kids, Kumar is no longer described by the gossip tabloids as a Casanova, sparked by his serial liaisons with a number of actresses including Shilpa Shetty, Raveena Tandon and even Katrina Kaif.
The khiladi has been tamed today. Going by his bravura performance in Airlift, Akshay Kumar has just reinvented his act, proving that he's much more than a dancing-prancing-fist-flaying Rowdy Rathore. Mercy be!