My darling, everybody has to take the risk'

‘Stop showing off your star power because there is nothing called star power.' 'The power is only in the script.' 'If you are getting a good script, "Chup chaap le lo!".'

Before the pandemic brought the world to a standstill in 2020, Akshay Kumar would flood the box office with three-four releases every year. After a break of one-and-a-half years, the superstar is poised to continue his winning streak once again, starting with Bell Bottom, set to release in cinemas on August 19. He's keeping his fingers crossed that Maharashtra, which accounts for 30 percent of box office revenue for a Hindi film, also allows theatres to resume operations. Now, if I go and talk to him (Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray)for my film and cases shoot up tomorrow, it will be on me. It's better if he takes the call. He knows his job really well,

What people really liked about the Bell Bottom trailer is that it is inspiring and does not give a loud feeling of patriotism. Was it a conscious decision?

The film is inspired from a true event. There were certain things which had been declassified. Having said that, we have also fictionalised and exaggerated certain things.

How was it like shooting during the peak of the pandemic?