Akshay Kumar is known to be one of the highest paid stars in Hindi cinema and in a recent interview, one of his old producers, Shailendra Singh, described him as a “money minded” person who is a “businessman first and actor later.” Shailendra produced films like Dor, Page 3, Malaamaal Weekly among many others, and with Akshay, he produced a film called 8 x 10 Tasveer, directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. Shailendra claimed that with this film, he lost Rs 85 crore, and when he asked Akshay to return some amount of his fee, as the film had completely bombed at the box office, the actor refused. Shailendra said he stopped making films after that.
‘Akshay Kumar refused to refund fee after film flopped’
In a chat with Siddharth Kannan on his YouTube channel, Shailendra said that Akshay was a “lovely guy” and they often played sports together so when he got a chance to make a film with the actor, he embraced the opportunity. He recalled that Nagesh was getting famous with Iqbal and Dor, and Akshay was also interested in doing the film as he liked the subject, but things went haywire soon after.
‘Film was to be shot in Munnar, due to Akshay we went to Canada’
Shailendra revealed that this was supposed to be a Rs 30-35 crore film that was to be shot in Munnar but they couldn’t stick to that as they had to adjust as per Akshay’s schedule. “Akshay was a very busy man. From Munnar, we landed up in Calgary (Canada). From there we landed in Cape Town (South Africa). We landed up in lots of places,” he recalled and added that this film was releasing after Akshay had a massive hit with Singh Is Kinng in 2008.
Shailendra claimed that he had pitched Singh Is Kinng to Akshay Kumar and the actor was immediately taken by it. He revealed the original plot of the film where a sardar from Punjab goes to the UK to bring back the Kohinoor, and brings it back in his turban. He shared that this was going to be a heist film and he already had the title. “Akshay told me I am doing Tasveer for you, you let me do Singh is Kinng. I said take it. They thanked me in the credits,” he shared.
As soon as 8 x 10 Tasveer released, it “fully bombed” so Shailendra asked Akshay to return a part of his fees. “I told Akshay, ‘Bro, nobody came to watch your film. You have to take some responsibility for this because you took a lot of money from me for this film,” he shared and recalled that he did not get anything back. “I stopped making films after that,” he said.
‘Akshay Kumar is business-minded’
Shailendra also claimed that Akshay increases his quote slowly and makes sure he is paid what he wants. “Akshay is a very nice guy, very sporting but very money-minded. So Akshay has got a strategy. He starts slow,” he said and gave an example with hypothetical figures. “First, he will take Rs 15 cr from you, then he will take you to Rs 21 cr, then Rs 21 cr will turn to Rs 27 cr, then he will talk about his lucky number 9 so if it is Rs 33 cr, it will go to Rs 36 cr casually,” he said and added, “He knows business. He is a business man first then an actor,” he said. Shailendra recalled paying Akshay Kumar Rs 9 crore for a song in his animated film Jumbo. “He managed to get Rs 9 cr out of me to dance on one song,” he said.
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Shailendra said that after Singh is Kinng released and became a hit, he wanted to get his title back because in the sequel, the makers were not even using the same title. He had to sue the makers to get his title. “I didn’t let it go. I went back and I asked for my title. I said now that you are done, you have made money, now give me my title. They said no. I went to the director, he said Akshay has the title. Then it was something like it is jointly owned. I sued them. I fought and got the title and I own it now,” he said and added, “The decency was not there to give the title back to me. I had to fight for it.” Shailendra said that when he wanted to make another film with Ranveer Singh, with the same title, “Akshay said, you can’t do a film, you can only do an OTT series.”
Shailendra also spoke about John Abraham and said that even he did not take any responsibility when their film Aashayein bombed at the box office. “I went to John after Aashayein. He had taken decent money and he had done Aashayein at a time when he was breaking up with Bipasha. It was a very dark film, a hospice film, a very intense film and it didn’t work at all but he took his full fees. And I had requested him that this is a social subject, please don’t take your full quote but he did. After it bombed, I went to John,” he recalled and said that neither Akshay nor John returned any amount.
What Akshay has said about being ‘money-minded’
This is not the first time that ‘money-minded’ accusation has been levelled against Akshay. In the past, while speaking at Aap Ki Adalat, he had responded to it, “Agar paisa kamaya hai toh loot ke nahi kamaya. Maine kaam karke kamaya hai. 8 saal se I have been the highest taxpayer (I have earned money but not by stealing from someone. For the last 8 years I have been the highest taxpayer). Toh, it cannot be that I am money-minded or anything. Money is an important aspect in life, you have to be practical.”
