Akshay Kumar: Zen Is His Other Name

It’s been a steady evolution of that lean, mean, martial machine called Akshay Kumar. That long haul from being the penniless waiter from Bangkok to one of the highest earning actors in the world. The flying kicks that marked his entry into Bollywood eventually eased out for the comic actor, which in turn gets edged out occasionally for the real story genre. There are so many Akshay Kumar’s lurking in there, that predicting his next step is a constant mystery. Shalini Sharma tries to get inside the head of a man who has it all, but prefers playing it quiet and understated.

- Shalini Sharma

It’s a bit tame watching Akshay Kumar shoot in the sedate surroundings of a 5-star hotel. In the charmed relationship between the star and Hi! Blitz, there have been several memorable shoots and most of them have involved the magazine team screaming in shock and fright as Khiladi Kumar (as once fondly known) has entertained himself hanging from a sheer cliff edge or dangling from the edge of a yacht, doing some stunts on a horse...you get the drift. And yes, did we mention—it was always at 5 am in the morning!

This time there are no adventurous histrionics for us to deal with, but chafing at the predictability of the afternoon is the star himself. Unable to resist himself, he jumps with one lithe leap on top of the bar counter. Of course.

He still wakes up at 4 am in the morning. Followed by two hours of intense martial workouts. He’s in bed by 9 pm, so don’t bother sending him that dinner invite. He shrugs wryly, “After 9 o’ clock I cannot keep my eyes open. I don’t think I’m any better off for this healthy routine. I know people who sleep late and get up late and they are still healthy, wealthy and wise.”

The question is do they still look as good as him? His skin has the incandescent glow that people have sunk fortunes into dermatologists to attain, the body is still the lithe, elegant, wiry machine it always was. We look long and hard at his unlined face. He catches our suspicious stare. “No botox,” he quips. We believe him. Akshay has been obsessed with naturopathy for decades. Eschews allopathic pills and will not allow a needle near him. He’s the herbal junkie of our times. The one who was worshipping at the altar of Ayurveda much before it became fashionable for the rest of the world.