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

[Black leather shoes, by Florsheim, at Metro shoes, Mumbai]

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."

He doesn’t spout high-faluting theories about acting. A simple soul, with simple philosophies, he readily gives credit to his directors for his performances. "I am a director’s actor," he once stated, without any qualms. "When I entered the film industry, I had only one guiding principle. That I must learn whatever they teach me." He smiles even now as he remembers his first day before the arclights: "The scene with which I started my career had Raakheeji giving me a tight slap in Keshu Ramsay’s Saugandh."

From that slap on the face to Khakee (2004), he has certainly climbed the rungs. In fact, he has come an even longer way from the time he was Rajiv Bhatia, a martial arts instructor. "The father of one of my students was a model coordinator and he suggested I try my luck in modelling. When I did, I found myself earning Rs 12,000 for just half an hour’s work. This was a huge amount for me as my martial arts brought in Rs 5,000 after a whole month’s slog. The lure of money attracted me to the world of glamour and soon I found myself in films."

Pramod Chakravarty was actually the first producer to sign him but Ramsay’s Saugandh (1991) got made before Chakravarty’s Deedar. Ever since, the Ramsays have played a crucial role in his career, whether by way of their successful Khiladi films or their recent production, Khakee, which won high praise for the actor from both the critics and the ticket-buying audience. Playing an unabashedly corrupt police inspector who has seen and done it all, Kumar brought the laughs in with his Falstaffian brand of audacity, while also heightening the darker aspects of the film. The sense of comic timing he had revealed earlier, in Hera Pheri and Awara Paagal Deewana, is honed to near-perfection in this cops and khadi film.

Filmmakers are now flocking to sign him for ‘performance-oriented’ roles. Pritish Nandy of PNC (Pritish Nandy Communications) is one of those talking shop with him. "Akshay is a very fine artiste, hugely underestimated," comments Nandy after seeing him in Khakee. "His comic timing is amazing. Comedy is not the easiest of things to do."

And comedy is what the action hero enjoys doing at present. "The audience identifies with intelligent comedy," he explains. "Comedy is most appreciated when it is situational. Slapstick comedy also works if the situations are funny. The audience empathises with the underdog or with situations taken from everyday life. That’s why my punch lines created so much laughter in Khakee."

From merely wanting to earn a comfortable living to feeling strongly about his roles, when did the transformation take place? Tanuja Chandra’s Sangharsh was the turning point in the actor’s career. It was after seeing Chandra’s film that Deepa Mehta cast him in Water, a film for which Kumar did considerable preparatory work. Apart from having a tutor teach him the finer points of Hindi as it was spoken in Benaras in the 1930s, he even did some reading on the social background of the period, since the story revolved around a house of widows in this pilgrimage town. Unfortunately, the film never got made due to opposition from religious fundamentalists.

But by now Kumar had ‘tasted blood’ and playing one-dimensional heroes did not excite him any more. "I had made enough money so that was no longer a motivating factor for signing films. Now I had this passion to experiment with roles. The length didn’t matter. That’s why I did a small one in Dil To Paagal Hai. I did a film like Suneel Darshan’s Jaanwar (with Karisma Kapoor) which used to leave me completely exhausted at the end of the day because of its emotionally draining subject about the bonding of a very violent man with a little baby whom he nurtures. In Dhadkan, I played a Ram-like hero, while Ajnabee got me my first award though I played a negative character. I accepted Ajnabee because I’d got tired of being labelled an ‘action hero’." Daring to take risks, unafraid of the repercussions his roles would have on his image as a popular actor, there was nothing DUH-like about the way Kumar tackled his career now. "I was not wary of doing Deepa’s film even though she had had controversial characters in her previous film, Fire, because after all we are playing characters, not ourselves. If you start rejecting films on such grounds you may as well quit and go home."

Kumar now actually studied the scripts of films before signing on the dotted line. "It didn’t matter if the director was experienced or not. The script had to be refreshingly new. It had to be a script like Hera Pheri in which I don’t even have a heroine opposite me. Two and a half hours of pure laughter, Hera Pheri didn’t have any of us making faces at the camera."

If Priyadarshan had the conviction to cast him in Hera Pheri, Dharmesh Darshan found in the actor’s ‘wholesome appeal’ the character of Ram, the idealistic husband of Dhadkan. "It was his first ‘emotional film’," points out the director who had not seen much of the actor’s action flicks. "It was a difficult role because he had to play a very manly character without any traits of in-your-face-masculinity, but I felt if he was given a quality platform and a detailing in character interpretation he could deliver." And he did. Adds Darshan, "Akshay has a native intelligence that works in his favour. It’s a gut-level sharpness that can be very scoring in cinema."

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. Seeing some of the horrendous films he had lent his name to also made him sit up and take stock. "I decided not to repeat such mistakes and chose to do only three-four films simultaneously, giving each film 15-20 consecutive days at a time," he explains, about his new strategy of work. "It became important for me to have detailed discussions with my directors about the subject and my role. Sometimes I spend a day on the set, just allowing the ambience to seep in." With a relaxed pace of work, doing films he enjoys, Kumar went on a stress-busting spree, even if it meant less moolah coming in at the end of the day. With yogic detachment, he shut down his recording studio and equipment-supplying business because they were destroying his peace of mind. "I found myself sitting up every night chasing payments, drawing up balance sheets and losing sleep over things that were not important in life."

What is important to him, today, apart from challenging roles, is spending time with his wife and son. "It is very important to simplify your life. Earlier, people lived till the age of 85-90, today 60 is the average age up to which people in Mumbai survive. Competition is stiff and everyone is so stressed out. I know there is a need to earn and save for post-retirement years but I cannot ruin my present slogging for my future. I need to spend time with my family. I want to be a happy man." And so, unlike many of his peers in the rat race, Kumar has expertly organised his schedules in such a manner that every few months he is able to escape with his family for a holiday. To Mauritius, Canada, Jaipur, wherever. "When I am working I don’t like to be disturbed but on holidays I go along with whatever my wife wants to do. She is not into sports like me. Her idea of chilling out is going for a walk or catching up with a film." Devoting his time totally to her after work is over for the day, even if it means not watching an India-Australia final on telly, is what keeps the romance alive in their marriage. "About 14 hours of my day is spent in the studios. After that, I should think of what Twinkle wants to do. I owe that much to her."

The two met on the sets of Zulmi (1999) and acted in a few more ‘terrible films’, as Twinkle bluntly puts it. Love happened slowly but surely, despite their divergently different backgrounds. He hails from a fairly conservative family with no antecedents in films, she has a more liberal background and is the daughter of two acting stalwarts – Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia. "Perhaps that’s why we gell," he offers by way of a reason. Twinkle is more forthcoming. "As a husband, he is not at all fussy nor is he chauvinistic in any way. He’s never told me what I should do or not do. I may air my views but he’s never curbed me in any way."

I am chatting with the actor at Filmistan Studio, between shots of an Abbas and Mastan-directed film called Aetraaz. This is the duo that got him recognition as an actor with Ajnabee. "This, too, is an unusual role," enthuses the actor, visibly charged. "It’s a courtroom drama where I slap a case against a woman for trying to seduce me. Actually, why am I using a mild word like seduce? Rape would be more appropriate. It’s a very bold subject and I am asked a lot of humiliating questions in court in the presence of my parents, wife and child. You can imagine what an awkward situation it is for me to go home and sleep with my wife after being stripped in court by ruthless questioning. To walk out with dignity from the court to your car becomes difficult after you’ve been subjected to this kind of intimate questioning; facing your wife is so much more difficult."

Does he face similarly awkward situations in real life when his name is linked with his co-stars’? "I know it’s very tough for wives of actors to be understanding. Rumours and gossip are a part of our lives. It’s a price we have to pay all the time. All famous people are subjected to this. There’s no way out," rues the actor who has had more than his share of link-ups and affairs – with actresses like Ayesha Jhulka, Pooja Batra, Raveena Tandon and Shilpa Shetty. "Those were before I got married. It was normal to be in love then," rationalises the one-time ladies’ man who sowed his wild oats before settling down to matrimony. Any small gestures by which he pacifies his wife if she is upset by what the gossip mills have churned out? "Why small? There are big gestures by which I try to make her happy. But what makes her happiest is when I buy her a book," reveals the husband who has no fondness for reading, himself. "Reading is not my style. But I know what to get for her as I’ve grown familiar with her taste over the years."

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. "He was very calm through my labour," recounts Twinkle. "And after the delivery, Akshay was with me day and night at the hospital. He would even have his baths in the hospital, never leaving my side. I really appreciated that because I needed him beside me at that moment."

"The pain a woman goes through when delivering a baby is equivalent to the pain of 20 fractures. I know how painful one fracture is, having suffered it once, but labour pain is far worse," states the macho actor who confesses to having been very nervous at the thought of turning father. "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." It may not have been easy but Kumar rose to the occasion very well indeed, and he has his wife vouching for it. "He couldn’t be better as a father. He pitches in all the time. It’s he who takes care of Aarav through the night, changing diapers and all. He’s a very family-oriented person." Junior Kumar’s day begins with jumping onto his Da-da’s chest, snuggling there for a while and then joining him for his morning puja. A little over a year old, he already knows how to chant the Gayatri mantra.

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." His own father, Kumar recalls, was his guiding spirit through his growing years. "My father used to be a wrestler in Punjab before he joined the army and then UNICEF. It was he who initiated me into sports and martial arts. When I became an actor he was so proud of all my films he’d watch each of them six-seven times, dragging along any friend he could lay his hands on. He would then note their reactions to my performances. I have inculcated all my values from him. And yes, I, too, would like my son to be active in sports."

"Akshay," states Twinkle, "is the most practical, organised and level-headed person I’ve ever met. And if he ever flies a little above ground I’m there to bring him back to reality. It’s very easy in this profession to have your head in the clouds but I think it’s important to be normal." Her husband expresses a similar belief. "I want my lifestyle to be simple, I like to move around freely. Okay, I may not be able to go shopping on Linking Road, but who likes shopping anyway?" What he enjoys is a game of volleyball with his friends on the beach, unmindful of fans who may gather to cheer him, or attending reunions of Don Bosco schoolmates. "Recently, all of us got together in school. It was so lovely meeting everyone. When I saw our classrooms, it seemed like just the other day that I sat, mooney-eyed, before my Maths teacher, on whom I had my first crush."

It’s not just old friends he’s sentimental about. His first car, a third-hand 1959 model Fiat, is still with him, ‘in working condition’. He continues to live in the house he bought with his early savings, albeit it has been stylishly renovated by Twinkle who has changed tracks from acting to interior designing. "My staff is the same as when I started my career as an actor. And I continue to act in Keshu Ramsay’s films," he chuckles.

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.