There are stars who are remembered for what they do in front of the camera. Then there are stars whose reputation is built just as much on what happens around them. In Akshay Kumar’s case, ask directors, choreographers or people who have spent years working around him and a remarkably consistent picture emerges – he the guy who turns up, knows his job, respects the clock, takes the work seriously and despite the scale of his stardom, remains deeply involved in the business of actually making a film.
These are eight stories that explain why that reputation has followed him for more than three decades.
1. THE 7 AM CALL TIME
Ahmed Khan has one of the simplest Akshay Kumar stories, and perhaps the most telling. A 7 am roll call doesn’t mean a 7 am phone call asking where the actor is. It means Akshay is already there. Speaking to The Indian Express in 2024, Khan recalled, “He is punctual. Suppose we have a roll at 7 am; at 6:30 am I receive a call, ‘Sir, Akshay sir’s car is here. Sir, Akshay sir is in the van, getting ready. Sir, Akshay sir is asking if he should walk out; it is 5 minutes to 7.’ As soon as I say, ‘Yes, camera ready hai kya?’ He’s here. ‘Chal ready hu, 7 baj gaya.’” The story gets better. Khan added that Akshay doesn’t turn his punctuality into a power play. “He never even gets mad at you or makes you feel that you made him wait.” For a film set, where one person’s delay can hold up dozens of others, that is not a small thing.
2. THE SET WHERE SAFETY CAME FIRST
Akshay built his reputation doing the kind of action that often involved real risk, but he has also spoken about how the responsibility extends beyond the actor performing the stunt. In a 2014 interview, while discussing the treatment of stuntmen and body doubles, he pointed to the precautions on his own sets. “We also take care of the crew. I can tell you that on my sets we had arranged for an ambulance that was always on the standby. We also had a doctor on set and, on top of that, we coordinated with nearby hospitals and arranged for two emergency beds, if we needed them. So much for safety.” He also explained his own approach to action years later, telling The Times of India that “good fear” means checking the equipment properly because “a small mistake” can cost someone their life. Whatever one thinks of his appetite for performing his own stunts, the important part of the story is that he doesn’t treat the danger as his alone.
3. EIGHT HOURS, BUT EIGHT HOURS OF WORK
There is a misconception that Akshay’s famous eight-hour rule is loved by the unit—the people who work with him value every bit of it. Bosco Martis saw it when Akshay was shooting songs in Jordan. “He works strictly for eight hours, but during those eight hours, he doesn’t leave the set,” Bosco told Siddharth Kannan. Then came the extraordinary part: “He was not well; he hadn’t rehearsed. He had a 101- 102 fever, but he was dancing. There was no break. We shot four songs back-to-back in 4 degrees temperature. There was a wind chill; dancers had to be given extra care. Akshay sir was just at it.” Bosco’s verdict was almost affectionate: “Woh faulaad hai” – he is made of steel. And it wasn’t simply physical endurance that Bosco remembered. He also said Akshay “brings a great energy to set, and unites the crew.”
4. HE DOESN’T ARRIVE WITH A ‘STAR’ ATTITUDE
Rohit Shetty knew Akshay before he was a director with a Rs 100-crore franchise machine behind him. Shetty was an assistant director on Suhaag and even played Akshay’s duplicate in the 1994 film. When the two finally worked together on Sooryavanshi, Shetty spoke about the lesson he had taken from those early years. “With him, it is the maturity to deal with people. He doesn’t lose his temper. He lets go of a lot of things. And the kind of discipline he has!” Shetty told India Today. But the line that says more than the punctuality and fitness is this: “Everybody knows he gets up early and comes to set on time and finishes the film early, but the way he conducts himself, despite being such a massive star, is what amazes me. A lot of newcomers should learn this from him.” It is a compliment about the person other people have to work with.
5. THE DIRECTOR DOESN’T HAVE TO CHASE HIM
For AR Murugadoss, who directed Akshay in Holiday, the advantage was not merely that Akshay arrived on time. It was that he arrived ready to do the work. “It is sheer discipline on his part. He stays fresh for every shoot, is never late on set, and reports to work whenever the director wants him. He understands what’s needed from him, and finishes his scenes quickly,” Murugadoss told Forbes India. There is a reason that he has endured. “Finishes his scenes quickly” can sound like a small compliment until you remember how many departments are waiting for an actor to get through a scene. The faster the principal photography moves, the sooner the entire machine moves on.
6. HE MAKES NEWCOMERS FORGET THEY’RE WORKING WITH SOMEONE WITH DECADES OF EXPERIENCE
Sargun Mehta came into Bollywood as a newcomer to Hindi cinema, playing a police officer opposite Akshay. She has admitted that when she first met him, she was too intimidated to speak. Akshay, she recalled, quickly picked up on it. “He used to tell me, ‘Tu bolti nahi hai kya?’ and I was thinking, how am I supposed to tell him that I am so scared?” Sargun recalled. What followed was less about reassuring her with words and more about changing the atmosphere around her. “He makes his co-actors feel so comfortable and is very easy to work with. Even on the sets while shooting, he will make everything comfortable for you.” She also noticed that he never tried to control how his co-stars performed. “He is very appreciative, and always gives a free hand at improvising or doing as many takes as you want to.” And Sargun said Akshay would make sure the entire team had dinner together so that everyone developed a bond. “On the next day on set it doesn’t seem like, ‘Oh my God, whom am I working with?’” For a newcomer, that can make the difference between being intimidated by someone with aura and stardom and simply working with a co-actor. And it says something about Kumar’s understanding of a set: the hierarchy may exist, but it doesn’t have to dominate the room.
7. THE PRODUCER DOESN’T GET LEFT WAITING OUTSIDE
Akshay has spoken about the producer’s position in unusually practical terms. In a Forbes India profile, he explained why he thinks so much about the person financing the film. “In this industry, it’s not about how good an actor you are. It’s all about how good you are to your producer. In my nearly 26 years in this business, I have learnt this. It’s how well you protect your producer that matters.” He had an even more vivid way of putting it: “The producer is standing outside your van, which he gave you! How the hell did he land outside? That is one thing I have told Vedant [Bali, his business manager]… never make a producer stand outside. Call him in first.” That mindset also explains why he has repeatedly described himself as a “producer’s actor”. It isn’t particularly glamorous. It is, however, an unusually clear understanding of whose money, time, and risk are tied up in the production.
8. THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM DON’T HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF HIM
Aanand L Rai offered perhaps the most straightforward description of Akshay when they worked together on Atrangi Re. It wasn’t about punctuality, fitness or box office. It was about how easy he was to read and work with. “Akshay’s honesty made me want to work with him again after this film. He’s the most uncomplicated actor I’ve ever met. He never tries to disguise himself. So, it’s easy to understand and read him. For a director like me, that simplicity is very charming,” Rai told Hindustan Times.
That word, uncomplicated, might actually be the most useful way to understand all the other stories. The punctuality, the preparation, the eight-hour rule, the attention to safety, the producer-first approach: none of it appears to be a performance of professionalism. It is simply how Akshay has chosen to work. And perhaps that is why the stories from sets have remained remarkably similar across the decades: different directors, different films, different departments, but the same Akshay Kumar.
