Akshay Kumar spoofs himself

8 Nov 2014

So okay. Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon didn't feature the iconic actress.

Still, there is nothing unusual about an actor playing himself. Dharmendra did it in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Guddi and in Being John Malkovich , the actor whom the film was named after played himself. The Big B made an appearance as himself in Sanjay Dayma's Ramji Londonwale . What sets Akshay Kumar's appearance apart is the amount of self-directed humour that the actor has added to the role of 'Akshay Kumar in director Abhishek Sharma's The Shaukeens . Says a source from the film's team, "Throughout the film Akshay Kumar takes potshots at himself and his image of a 'Khiladi' star who has a reputation of not giving serious performances. Akshay makes fun of his non-actor's image by showing a 'serious' Bengali director mocking him and telling him he will never be taken seriously as an actor. And that he will live out his acting career jumping out of helicopters and from skyscrapers." There are also potshots about how many endorsement Akshay does.

Says the source, "Akshay has taken digs at the number of endorsements he does for the big bucks. He has also joked about not receiving awards." Says the source admiringly, "Which other A-lister star would dare to satirize himself so savagely and with so much pleasure?" Apparently, Akshay Kumar has gone even further with the self-mockery by portraying himself as an alcoholic.

Says the source, "Everyone knows Akshay doesn't touch a drop of alcohol in real life. And yet in the film he has played 'Akshay Kumar' as an alcoholic."