Sada Punjabi puttar Akshay Kumar will play his self in his Friday release 'Namastey London'. Going back to his roots, Akshay hails from the North Indian state of Punjab and is a real Punjabi in all terms. He is proud of being a Punjabi. This handsome actor is one of the top-notch actors of Bollywood but at heart he still remains a Punjabi. "You can take Akshay out of Punjab, but you can't take Punjab out of Akshay," he says. He feels that doing Vipul Shah's 'Namastey London' was like going back to roots as in the film he plays a good-natured Punjabi who marries an NRI girl from London played by Katrina Kaif. Akshay will be seen as a rustic guy who wears flashy, fluorescent Pathanis and traditional jootis and rides the Bullet motorbike. He milks cows and also his dialogues and humour has a strong Punjabi flavour.
He also had a taste of authentic Punjabi food while shooting for the film in Punjab as he used to order his food from a local Punjabi dhaba. He has also started a unique promotion of the film by chatting in Punjabi on radios and TV channels. And how can we miss the Christmas song 'Jingle Balle' that had Punjab smeared over it. Akshay truly knows to play his part the best way!
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Interview : 'We should be proud of our roots'
How Punjabi are you in real life?
I'm a pure Punjabi boy. My roots are in Punjab. My dad was from Punjab. I'm proud of my background. I cannot give up my habit of speaking in Punjabi. Whenever I'm excited or want to explain something to someone I instinctively start speaking in Punjabi.
What's with the golden hair colour in the film?
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Yeah, but wasn't it messy to milk the cow in that scene?
What's messy about it? People do it in Punjab all the time. Even I used to do it when I would visit Punjab as a kid. And yes, I enjoyed it.
How was the experience of shooting in London?
Oh, I love shooting in London. The people are very friendly. Since there are so many Indians there, it almost feels like home. I also like the cultural diversity of the place.
Your latest commercial for Thums Up sees you doing action after a long time. How was it?
I was really keen to do an action ad. I told the creative team to think on these lines. I've used the Japanese karate, Yamazaki, in the ad. I trained for 15 days to get it right. And I fell in love with it so much that I've continued with the training. It's not an easy job since you need to be really quick and agile, but I'm really enjoying it.
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
Mangal Lakshmi
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