 I couldn’t believe that I was becoming a father. Even after my son was born, it took a while for the fact to sink in. It was only after he started calling me Da-da that I felt like a father. This new role didn’t come easily to me. 
After fourteen years of hotting up the big screen with outrageous stunts (and indulging in meteoric liaisons off it), action hero Akshay Kumar is having the last laugh. His recent zany turn in Hindi films reveals an untapped flair for the comic and the poignant. ALPANA CHOWDHURY observes an actor and a gentleman whose innate restlessness appears to have been stilled by professional satisfaction and personal fulfilment
His middle name was ‘DUH’. Several films – hits, misses, duds – later, he was known more for his brawn than his brain. But Akshay Kumar bided his time. He had no pretensions about why he was in Bollywood. He was simply earning a living. If producers wanted him to play the khiladi in film after film, so be it.
Fourteen years down the line, the 36-year-old Kumar is having a good laugh. "To me, DUH means a man who is doing very well in his career, who is still going strong after 14 years. This is my answer to those who gave me this nickname." There is no bitterness nor any sense of vindication. Instead, he reasons, "You must give a person a chance to grow."
Perhaps it was his training as a martial arts expert that inculcated in him a sense of order and discipline, which is why, after a point, Kumar felt he had had his fill of running from one studio to another, wearing himself thin with double shifts and chaotic working schedules. What is important to him, today, apart from challenging roles, is spending time with his wife and son.
Reformed rakes, they say, make good husbands and this lady-killer definitely seems to be playing the sensitive husband to the hilt. Taking care of Twinkle through her pregnancy, accompanying her to the doctor’s for her check-ups, cancelling a schedule in South Africa and rushing back to hold her hand through premature labour pains, he’s done it all.
Was donning the mantle of husband as difficult? "No, not at all," is the surprising answer. "I don’t know how to explain this. Maybe because I married a little late in life, I was prepared for it. Marriage meant sticking to the straight path, being loyal to your wife – that wasn’t difficult. Being a father means so much more."
With his life neatly divided between his family and profession, Kumar is one of a rare breed. He is what Psychology textbooks describe as a ‘well-adjusted person’. He sleeps peacefully and is up at 4 a.m. long before the sunrays filter into his room. A walk on the beach or a session of yoga and he is all set for another long day before the arclights. Fresh and glowing with just a hint of attractive grey on the sides of his hair.
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