I Work to entertain India : Akshay Kumar

With two of his films - "Housefull 2" and "Rowdy Rathore" - having made it to the Rs. 100 crore club, Akshay Kumar has been tagged as one of Bollywood's most bankable actor. Though the actor feels the pressure of success, he says once a film releases, he doesn't dwell too much upon its box-office performance.
"Pressure comes as the film nears its release time. But after that if it doesn't work, I am on the next film. But I don't take a big hit too seriously also, because the next Friday you have to go in the same circle... you never know what will happen the next Friday. I just take it as it comes. I just work and entertain," Akshay said during an interaction.

Akshay made his Bollywood debut with 1991 film "Saugandh" and went on to aquire the tag of Khiladi Kumar for his inclination towards action. Over the years, the actor has however shifted his focus to comedies.

"After 'Khiladi 420', I stopped (doing action movies) because I got married. I just wanted to work on comedy, romance and everything. Being a father and a husband, a man has to settle down a little bit. Now my son has grown up, I want to go back to action," said the actor, who is married to actress Twinkle Khanna and has two kids - Aarav, 10 and daughter Nitara, who was born in September.

With "Rowdy Rathore", Akshay returned to his love for action and his new film "Khiladi 786" will see him in a similar avatar once again. Directed by Ashish R. Mohan, the film also features Asin Thottumkal. It releases Dec 7.

"It is a great thing to return to action. It is my love. I have been in this industry because of action. I have tournaments of action. I have my own personal gyms. Action is what I am. It's because of action that I am here," said the 45-year-old martial arts expert.

Over the years, the genre of action has been mixed with comedy and successfully presented to the audience through hit films like "Dabangg", "Ready" and "Rowdy Rathore".

Akshay says today's audience is eager to watch over-the-top action movies.

"Audience wants this from me. They want over-the-top action (movies). These are their demands and we have to try and give it to them. The films are made for everybody. Not only masses but classes also love this," he said.

He added that now the overseas audience wants to see one actor to be a master of all - whether it is action or comedy. The past formula of having a seperate comedian alongside an actor in a film is long gone.

"Only action doesn't work in overseas. But when you join it with comedy, it works. People want their actors to do comedy too. They don't want any comedians next to the actor. They want one solo hero and want to see everything in him," he said.