Akki says bye to salary, hello to comedy

You may never see Akshay Kumar in his Khiladi avatar again. The actor has decided to star only in comedies henceforth. "In Khatta Meetha, I tried to make people laugh because it's very important to create laughter.

Check the success record of the past five years. Most successful films have been hasya kathas (laughathons)," he says.

His logic? Akki believes audiences are tired of all the tears on television and seek humour when they go to the movies. "They refuse to pay good money to cry at the movies."

That's not all. In another major career decision, Kumar has decided to stop taking remuneration for his films.

Instead, he will share in the profits. "Even for Khatta Meetha, I charged nothing. I sold it at a reasonable price.

And since I am a partner in the production, the only way I'll make money is if the film profits. This is the only way to make sure distributors don't suffer." Henceforth, Kumar has also decided to co-produce all the films he stars in.

For the moment though, he has no new films in hand and will take it easy for the rest of the year. "Action Replayy, Tees Maar Khan and Patiala House are almost ready. I've no new projects for next year," he says.

Calling Mr Bean actor Rowan Atkinson and Charlie Chaplin his idols, Akki says he has fallen in love with the part of the common man that he essayed in Khatta Meetha. "Mr Bean is universally liked. Chaplin is a loser; he never gets the girl in the end. Playing the loser is not easy. I don't want to take the easy route of playing the super-hero any more. I'd rather play Mr Bean than James Bond. My characters should have a heart and a funny bone."

Flamboyance therefore, will be reserved only for his advertisements. "On the large screen, I'd rather be smaller instead of larger than life."