Akshay Kumar is always on time. He is always disciplined and hard working but also always entertaining, fun behind the camera and also in front of it.
I had to pinch myself. I got the call and didn't expect it. And right up 'til nearly the end of filming, I was thinking, 'Am I actually doing a film with Akshay Kumar?' because I was a massive Akshay Kumar fan before, and the first film that I ever watched was his and Katrina's film, 'Namastey London.'
When you have Khiladi Kumar on one side and Thalaiva on the other, you have to know your stuff well.
Akshay Kumar is like a guru. He made a mark in the industry without any godfather. Akshay sir is a superstar only because of his hard work and talent.
I am inspired by the kind of films Raj Kumar Gupta and Imtiaz Ali make.
I am glad that actors like Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan are doing justice to comedy. But in our days, nobody could beat Sunil Dutt and Amitabh Bachchan.
My favourites are Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi. They are the four legends. I have worked with them in hundreds of songs.
When I was a youngster, Praveen Kumar was in the same club as me, and because we are similar bowlers, I learnt a lot from him. We used to have conversations, but not a lot. What was very helpful was observing what he was bowling, the kind of fields he had, and what his thinking was.
'Aashiq' is a romantic film, even though my character is a rather aggressive guy. You could even call it an intense romance. And working with Indra Kumar has been an excellent experience. He is a great director.
A hero today must be Raj Kapoor, Sunil Dutt, Shammi Kapoor, Dev Anand, Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan rolled into one. These are the six hero slots in Hindi cinema and an actor must be able to play all if he wants a long innings.
