Actor Akshay Kumar is currently in Singapore, with son Aarav on a much-deserved break and letting the dad in him take over his hero mantle. “This is one thing I can’t compromise on, my family time. But I return in another two days and then it’s going to be working non-stop again,” says the actor.

Having bounced back this year with two back-to-back ` 100-crore plus successes with Housefull 2 and Rowdy Rathore, ask Akshay if he’s already feeling the pressure of living up to the Rs100-crore tag with his upcoming releases and the actor says that there’s no pressure at all. “Those days are long over when I would do films for financial reasons alone, so may be there was a certain pressure then, but today I don’t feel any of it,” says
Akshay.

Point out that according to trade there’s almost 30% of industry money riding on him and he laughs it off. “Don’t make me feel like a horse!” On a serious note he adds, “I am not running in a race here, but yes having this kind of money riding on me reflects the industry’s faith in me and I am grateful for that. It makes me feel more responsible,” he adds. As for competition back home, he agrees that it has always been there.

“Everyone is competition, but it depends on how you look at it. Today’s competition makes me want to get out there and make more films, I could sit in my office and worry about how to be better than them, but that’s not me, I’d rather be in the middle of them making them feel the same way they make me feel,” shares Akshay.

But while the actor’s riding high on his two Rs100-crore successes and with another six films under his belt, Akshay reveals that he’s never let any of it affect him. “The lessons I’ve learnt have kept me grounded and that’s also all that my father could have wished for. He told me to be whatever I could in life, but just be grounded, no one wants to know a selfish idiot no matter how famous he may be… My father couldn’t have been more right!”

Now that he’s back in his comfort zone of commercial fare, is it difficult to balance the hero image and do films that challenge the actor in him? “Absolutely! I know what is wanted of me, I know what is expected of me, but sometimes you just want to step out of the commercial requirements (even though I love them) and create something more challenging, even though you are at a risk of failing, sometimes you need to keep the ‘artist’ in you ‘alive’! That’s why I’ll always be a risk-taker! Not only when it comes to action and doing all those risky stunts, but also the kind of roles. That’s why I have a film like Special Chhabis with a Khiladi 786 and a film like Oh My God with Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai 2,” smiles Akshay.

http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report_ill-always-be-a-risk-taker-akshay-kumar_1712943