Mumbai

Real-life stories have often provided plot points to director Neeraj Pandey be it ‘A Wednesday’, ‘Special 26’ or his upcoming Akshay Kumar-starrer ‘Baby’, about a spy mission.

The director says it is just a coincidence that he explores such subjects in his movies.

“I don’t know… It could be because dramas are set in those kind of spaces. It’s more like a coincidence. I like making films on realistic issues,” Neeraj told PTI.

The filmmaker said the script of ‘Baby’ was there in his mind from quite sometime.

“The story was there in my mind for sometime. I started working on the story after finishing my novel ‘Ghalib Danger’.

The film is based on a few articles that I have read and remembered over a certain period of time. There was a germ which I wanted to pursue and ‘Baby’ is the result of that,” he said.

It is the second time that Neeraj has teamed up with Akshay after ‘Special 26’.

“It is obvious that our previous experience has been good for us to come together. Akshay has gone to a totally different level with his performance in the film. We are very proud of his performance in the film. The actions which he did are very realistic,” he said

Neeraj has also given a fresh look to his other starcast be it Anupam Kher or ‘Chashme Badddoor’ actress Tapsee Pannu.

“I wanted to give them a very fresh look for this film and I wanted to shed their set image too,” he said.

The director is next helming a biopic on Indian cricket skipper MS Dhoni, which stars Sushant Singh Rajput in the titular role. The film released today.

I became my director’s actor for ‘Baby’: Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar says he completely relied on his director Neeraj Pandey while playing an undercover agent in their upcoming film ‘Baby’.

Akshay, 47, who has played law enforcement officers in his earlier films like ‘Holiday’, ‘Rowdy Rathore’, ‘Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo’ among others, said he went to the sets of ‘Baby’ as a newcomer. It is Akshay’s second collaboration with Pandey after ‘Special 26’.

“I didn’t do any special preparation for the film because I was asked not to. If I would have prepared there would have been a clash with the director.

“I completely relied on Neeraj and his script. I generally give my suggestions to directors but in this film I completely listened to him. In a nutshell, I became my director’s actor for playing Ajay Singh Rajput,” Akshay told PTI.

‘Baby’ is Indian espionage thriller which has an ensemble cast of Rana Daggubati, Anupam Kher, Danny Denzongpa, Taapsee Pannu besides Akshay.

The film, which deals with terrorism, has been scheduled today.

“‘Baby’ will tell people how to be aware about terrorist activities. These kind of films just make people vigil,” he said.

Akshay is happy to team up with the director again because he finishes his films in a short span of time.

“Baby has been shot in just 45 days and we completed ‘Special 26’ in 32 days. It’s a good thing for an artiste because his time is not getting wasted and you also get out of the character quickly. Generally, an actor gets bored after shooting for 50 to 60 days,” he said.

In the film, Akshay shares a bad relationship with Kher unlike their roles in ‘Special 26’.

“For the first time we have shared such a different relationship in a film. Mine and his viewpoints don’t match and we just hate each other in the group, which is on a secret mission,” he said.

After ‘Baby’, Akshay will be seen in Karan Johar’s ‘Brothers’, ‘Airlift’ and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Main Gabbar’.

“It’s important for an actor to keep on jumping from one genre to the other. Otherwise, it becomes very boring to play similar kind of roles. As an actor, I enjoy doing slapstick comedy, dry humour, serious and action films,” the actor said.

Asked if he ever gets affected by playing a character on-screen, Akshay said, “I don’t think about my roles after pack up… I just unwind myself after finishing a shoot by saying, ‘Stop acting now and face reality’.”

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