January 28th, 2009
THE story goes that when Akshay Kumar asked director Nikhil Advani for the script of Chandni Chowk To China (CC2C) he showed him the movie poster. (For those who can't remember the poster, it shows Akshay in a Chinese get up with two swords which resemble kebab sticks!) When Akshay asked Advani what was the idea of the story, Advani again showed him the poster while admitting he neither has a script nor an idea.
He just had the poster.
To this, Akshay is supposed to have said, "Congratulations, this is a new way of working. I really like the poster, it's great, and I'm going to work in your film." And that sealed the fate of CC2C.
In his pre-release publicity blitzkrieg, Akshay told this story with unbridled excitement. Many termed him as cocky or overconfident but in my opinion, he was being honest. Come on, a top star rarely admits that the script is the last priority when he green lights a project. It must have taken huge courage on Akshay's part to admit that he gambled Rs 40 crore on a poster of a film. And for that reason itself Akshay deserves an honesty badge.
