Akshay Kumar wants his upcoming movie “Toilet: Ek Prem Katha” to reach out to a greater number of people rather than on garnering box office business. Akshay says his distributor has applied for tax exemption for the film.
On Thursday, at the trailer launch of his upcoming movie, when asked that after his blockbuster hit movies like ‘Rustom’ and ‘Airlift’ crossed Rs 100 crore mark at the box office, so is he looking forward the same or more aiming more than 100 Crore, On this Akshay said, “I am interested in more eyeballs than the box office collection. In fact, I wish the ticket price of this film to be low so that more people can go and watch the film. Around 54 per cent people in our country have no access to toilets. So, my concern is to make people aware of the issue. They should go and watch the film rather than (we) count on the box office collection.”
Asked if they will make the movie tax free, Akshay said, “So far there is no confirmation, but yes, the Viacom18 people (the distributors of the film) applied for tax exemption. Let`s see what happens.”
From action star now Akshay is moving into movies with social relevance. But he says he doesn`t believe in having any image. He said, “I don`t want to have any kind of image. I just want to keep on trying everything. When I entered the industry, people called me an action hero. Then, I tried other things, they called me comedian and romantic hero. Then I did villain roles, now people are saying that I am doing social films. I just don’t want to have an image. I just want to keep on trying different things.” said Akshay, who received a National Award for his performance in ‘Rustom’.
Akshay’s upcoming movie titled “Toilet: Ek Prem Katha” is more relevant to the urban crowd rather than to the rural people. The film has been shooted in the rural areas. Akshay said, “The issue of open defecation is not just a rural (village) problem. It is a huge problem in big cities too and it is more dangerous in big cities rather than villages because we live in a concrete jungle, so germs and bacteria spread faster here. Don’t think for a moment that this movie is for villages. It is for urban people too because we are in more danger than them.”
“Toilet Ek Prem Katha“, which was directed by Shree Narayan Singh co-produced by Akshay Kumar and Neeraj Pandey, the film will star Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar in the lead roles, with Anupam Kher, and Sana Khan in supporting roles and the movie is all set to release it on August 11.