Thank you 2016, says Akshay Kumar

2016 was an exceptional year for Akshay Kumar. He was the only A-lister with three blockbusters (Airlift, Rustom and Housefull 3) to his credit. And let’s not forget his quirky cameo as a hit man with a man-bun in Dishoom. It has all been a joyride for Akshay, what with his wife the lovely Mrs ‘Funnybones’, Twinkle Khanna ,acquiring the status of a successful writer and producer. Excerpts from an interview:

What are your thoughts on the year that was, and the year ahead?
Sheer gratitude followed by sheer excitement — this is what everyone should be feeling about themselves, their year and their future. Anything else wouldn’t be acceptable. Humble and happy is the way to be.

2016 was an exceptionally successful year for you. How do you look back on the year?
I am sad that it’s over. Starting a new year can be daunting. After working so hard, it doesn’t seem to matter what you achieved in the year; it will be forgotten by the next. But when you keep as busy as me, it’s nothing but excitement heading my way, so I’ll never crib. I’ll only ever yearn for more.

What can your fans expect in 2017?
They can expect something they never would have expected from me! That I can promise. 2017 is a very big year, let’s hope it treats me as kindly as this year did, if not more.

Your wife, the gifted and beautiful Twinkle Khanna, is about to launch herself as a producer. Would her banner only produce films featuring you?
I doubt it. As much as my wife loves me, she gets enough of me at home, she’s not going to want to work only with me. Her ambitions spread much further than the comfort zone of her own home.

Twinkle has proven herself to be much more than a star-daughter and a star-wife, wouldn’t you say?
She has a lot of passion when it comes to changing the societal mindset about issues such as suppression and regression. The world is her oyster and I’m sure she’s going to push herself to her absolute limits in the most humorous ways she can find.

The entertainment industry has been hard hit by demonetisation in 2016. How far do you think our cinema has been hit by it?
Unfortunately Bollywood was hit and hit hard. I’m not surprised. Even my staff weren’t able to go to the cinema on Sundays because they couldn’t spare 500 bucks. I can only imagine how hard it’s hit many areas of India. But everyone has had to sacrifice for the greater good. The movies will recover, eventually. But hats off to those that were hit the hardest yet behaved so brilliantly.